Raising Anya, Facing Willow
by Admiral
Summary: Bad Willow returns to resurrect Anya, taking Our Willow's powers to do it and setting the stage for a major showdown. Sequel to Witching Anya COMPLETE!
1. Back from the dead

**DISCLAIMER: **_Buffy-The Vampire Slayer and all related characters are the property of Mutant Enemy Productions, Inc., Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises and Twentieth Century-Fox Television. No copyright infringement is intended. This work of fiction is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. The story and all original characters are the sole property of the author and may not be used or archived without permission._

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Okay, things you need to know before you start reading: First, this is a direct sequel to _Witching Anya_, so if you haven't read that yet go back to my author page and do so. I'm not saying you'll be hopelessly lost, but why take chances? Next, I'm essentially telling two stories this time so I'm going to be switching off between Willow and Anya's perspectives. For the easily confused (of which I'm a member) each chapter starts with the name of the POV character. Also, I'm serious about the rating in the summary so if you're a young'un, be on your merry way. Your spoilers are _Doppelgangland, Triangle, Seeing Red_ and the last few eps of S6, _Selfless_, _You're Welcome_ (from Angel), the finales of both _Buffy_ and _Angel_, and of course the aforementioned fic. Your pairings are Willow/Anya, Willow/Kennedy and hints of Willow/lotsa other people (yes, Willow gets very lucky in this fic).

And finally, on a teeny personal note, the last time I posted a sequel to WA a while back, one of the comments I received was a recommendation that I not use my Bad Willow character anymore because she was a little too - I quote - "creepy." Back then I thought the reviewer might have had a point and I took it down. This one's goin' up and stayin' up, and it features Bad Willow in all her glorious creepiness. If you find this a problem, stop reading now and go back to the BTVS page where you'll find plenty of nice, normal Spuffy fics to read. (Really. I checked.) This story's for the oddballs among us.

**RAISING ANYA,**

**FACING WILLOW**

**By Darrin Colbourne**

**

* * *

**

**Willow**

It takes a moment for me to get my bearings when I wake up. It's only been four days since Kennedy and I moved into our new apartment in Cartegena, so I guess a little lingering homesickness for our old place is understandable, but flexibility is the watchword in our ongoing war against Evil (Xander has started calling it the "War on Demonism") and Kennedy and I are needed here in Spain to organize a new group of Slayers, so we'll just have to get used to our new home.

Being with Kennedy makes it easier. Just before I get up I take a moment to admire her. She's fast asleep next to me. She has the cutest little snore - yes, she snores. Don't let her tell you otherwise. It's like this kitten-sleeping-in-a-basket snore. It makes me smile and brush some of her long dark hair aside so I can give her a quick peck on the cheek. She smiles in her sleep, which gives me just enough incentive to get up and start the day.

You would think, with everything I've seen since I first met Buffy all those years ago, I would have learned how to expect the unexpected, but I never have. It's because normalcy is so seductive. When the world isn't ending, when we're not running for our lives, you can't help but be complacent. It happens to me all the time, especially in times like this, when I'm in the bathroom just doing all the typical things I always do when I'm getting ready to face the world. I'm certainly not expecting an apocalypse, or any other kind of certain doom. Right at this moment all I'm doing is brushing my teeth, staring into the mirror at my reflection as I brush up and down, back and front, paying special attention to my canines and molars. I look away only long enough to spit and rinse, then turn back to the mirror to check out my handiwork, smiling wide and pretty and showing off my pearly whites. After a second my reflection waves at me. I wave back, then reach out to open the mirror and get something from the cabinet behind it. Only when I'm trying to decide which deodorant to wear does it hit me:

_My reflection waved at me?_

_I waved back??_

I close the mirror and stare into it again. This time I'm not smiling, but my reflection has a soft, mischievous smile on her face, which would be unsettling enough, but she's also wearing a black athletic jersey, which is totally nothing like the pink bathrobe I currently have on. She does get closer as I lean in to get a better look at her, but she ends the charade when we're looking each other in the eye.

"Hey, Willow," she says with my voice. "I'm baaaaack."

I surround the mirror with the strongest force field I can conjure as I back away in terror, then I encase the bathroom in a second force field as I back all the way into the bedroom. When I'm sure the fields are secure I turn to the bed…only to find _her_ laying on my side of it cradling a still-sleeping Kennedy in her arms.

She shakes her head. "Really, Girl Scout," she says, "as if those puny barriers would actually have held _me_."

I don't know what to say to that, simply because my mind is stuck on the thought that _she_ is _me_, that it's really me laying in bed wearing black workout clothes and cradling Kennedy and playing with her hair. Of course, deep down I'm sure it's _not_ me, which makes the situation that much more terrifying. I've met my doppelgangers before, and the one thing they always seem to have in common is their evil streak. Once I remember that, a response comes easily. "Don't hurt her."

The other me smiles. "Oh, don't worry. I wouldn't dream of hurting little Reagan here…"

"It's Kennedy." The correction is automatic, something for my subconscious mind to do while my conscious mind works frantically to find a way to get Ken and myself away from here.

Bad Willow grins. "Right," she says. "Anyway, hurting her wouldn't be any fun, and right now she's much more useful to me alive and in my arms." With that she lowers her head and kisses Kennedy the way I did before. This time it wakes Kennedy up. She stirs and huddles closer to Bad Willow before she opens her eyes halfway, then she looks up into the evil twin's face. "Hey, baby," my reflection whispers to her. "Welcome back to the land of the living." Kennedy smiles and stretches up for a kiss on the lips.

"No!" I say through clenched teeth just before their mouths make contact. That wakes Kennedy up all the way. She turns her head in my direction and her eyes widen as she sees me standing at the foot of the bed, then stay wide when she turns back to see me holding her in my arms.

There are agonizing seconds as she looks into Bad Willow's eyes before it occurs to her to move. When it finally hits her she pushes out of Bad Willow's grip and slides out of bed and stands to the side of it, just staring at my twin, then she turns to me with a look of absolute confusion on her face, then she turns back to Bad Willow. "Who the fuck are you?!" She says.

Bad Willow sighs. "What is it about me? Did you see something in my eyes? Is there something about my scent? Or, is it just that little cramp you Slayers get when something evil is all over you?"

Kennedy just stares at her again, then she turns back to me and shrugs. She's begging me for an explanation with her eyes.

I can't help her right now. I have to focus on my twin. "What do you want?" I say more forcefully now that Ken's out of reach.

Bad Willow gets out of the bed on the other side. "What do you _think_ I want?" She says as she starts to approach me. "What is the one thing I have _ever_ wanted from this backwater reality, the one thing you and your cronies couldn't just let me enjoy in peace?"

I wait until she's standing right in front of me before I answer. "She's dead."

She smiles again. "I know that. I intend to rectify that situation. You're going to help me."

"Never."

"That's odd…I don't recall saying you had a choice in the matter."

"I'll do whatever it takes to send you back where you came from."

"Oh, it'll take a lot more than you've got, wanna-be."

"I beat you before, and I've learned a lot since we last met."

"As I recall, sweetie, ya didn't beat me without help…and last I checked, she's dead _too_. Besides that, no matter how much you think you've learned, it's nowhere near as much as _I_ have. So let's try this again: I'm going to bring Anya back. You're going to help me do it, willingly, or I will kill everything that moves in this reality."

"You've made that threat before."

"It worked before. I always go with what works."

"It only worked because Anya was willing to give herself to you to save the rest of us."

"Which brings me back to why I'm here. I will not leave until Anya is alive and safe in my arms and tells me to leave. If you try to keep that from happening I _will_ kill this world" - she points to Kennedy - "starting with her, and when she's dead I'll destroy this city and every other city you Scoobies and your Slayers are in, and I'll do it 'Independence Day' style, since few things in existence appeal more to me right now than the idea of all of you dying in a rain of fire!" There's a look of rage in her eyes as she delivers that line, then she walks past me and toward the bathroom. "I'll be back in ten minutes," she says. "You have that long to come to your senses and realize helping me is your only option."

She disables my force field with a snap of her finger and walks into the bathroom. I can't bring myself to do anything but watch, but Kennedy, God love her, runs in after her. The Slayer comes out a second later. "She's gone!"

I sigh. Of course it wouldn't be that easy. "It doesn't matter. She'll be back in ten minutes, just like she said."

Ken still looks confused. "That was her, wasn't it? The one you told me about?" I nod. "Not the vampire one?" I shake my head. "The one that's totally schoolgirl obsessed with Anya?" I nod again. Kennedy looks back into the bathroom, shakes her head and says, "That is fucked up on so many different levels!" I'm smiling when she turns back to me. "Okay, but you can beat her, right? You said you beat her last time. That was true, wasn't it?"

My smile fades immediately. "It is, but so is what she said. Anya found a weapon she was vulnerable to, and Tara got it to me while we were fighting…"

"…and Tara's dead." Ken says softly. I nod again and lower my head as thoughts of Tara fill it. I try hard not to let the memories overwhelm me. I have someone new to fight for and not much time to do it.

"We have to call…" Someone is apparently reading my mind. Just before I can finish my cell phone rings. I go over to the nightstand to get and answer it. "Hello? Buffy! I was just about to call you! Guess who decided to show my face around here again!"

"Way ahead of you, Will," Buffy says. "Have you looked out your window yet?"

I turn toward the bedroom window. Only then does it register that it's a little darker than it should be for this time of morning. I run over and look out and up, hoping against hope that the shadow I'm seeing is just a really big cloud. The thing in the sky is really big all right, but it's no cloud.

I run out of the apartment and head outside to get a better look. Kennedy is right behind me. Neither of us bothers to dress because it only barely registers to us that I'm only in a robe and Ken's only in her panties. No one else notices because the attention of everyone on the street and looking out of their windows is fixed on the sky.

Hovering silently miles above Cartegena is a massive flying saucer, all gray and menacing and pushing the clouds out of its way. It looks centuries old, but that may simply part of its design. Another part of its design leaves no doubt who it belongs to. Carved into the underside and visible only in shadow is the image of a tree superimposed over a pentagram.

"'…and I'll do it 'Independence Day' style…'" I whisper.

"What was that, Willow?" Buffy says.

I forgot that I was talking to her on the phone. "Is there one of these over London?" I ask. That's where Buffy and Giles are.

"Yes, and ones over New York, St. Petersburg and Brussels."

New York: Faith and Robin Wood; St. Petersburg, Russia: Xander and Dawn; Brussels, Belgium: Andrew; plus all of their attendant Slayers.

"First thing," Buffy says, "we have to get out of these cities and someplace more remote. If she's only targeting us…"

"She won't stop with us." I say.

"It still helps if she's starting with us. We can get away from the populated areas and get to some desert or mountain region, and then…"

"We only have ten minutes," I say.

There's a long silence, then Buffy says, "Okay…we're a little pressed for time, but that's nothing new."

"She wants Anya."

"That's nothing new either. Did you tell her Anya was dead?"

"I did. I don't think she's going to let a little thing like that stop her. She wants me to help her bring Anya back."

"I hope you said 'no'."

"I did, but I may not have that option when she comes back."

"You _can't_ help her, Will, no matter what happens. Just say 'no' again when she gets back. Hopefully by then we'll have found a way to stop her and her saucers."

"What if we _can't _stop them, Buffy? What then?"

"If you try," my voice says in my ear, "and if you refuse me again, I'll just have to go with my contingency plan. I'll destroy your world, and use the souls of everyone I kill as fuel to give me the power to raise Anya on my own."

There's a long silence, then Buffy says, "Willow, please tell me that was you, and that you're kidding."

Bad Willow answers before I can. "You're wasting time, Slayer. You should be spending this time trying to convince your Willow to do what I want. Tick-tock, wanna-be."

There's more silence, then Buffy says, "Will?"

"It's me, Buffy." I say.

I can hear her breathe a sigh of relief, then she says, "Get ready to work. Giles and I will try to figure out some way to stop her, or at least get everybody in one spot before the deadline. If she shows up again in the meantime…don't hesitate. Throw everything you got at her and keep throwing until she falls."

"Sure," I say, wondering how big a waste of time that would be. Buffy hangs up before we can talk more about it, so I turn off my phone and put it in my robe pocket, then turn to Kennedy. That's when I notice my girl is on the street topless. I get her in an embrace and cover her up as best I can. "Let's get back inside," I whisper.

* * *

We're dressed and ready for anything five minutes after we get back inside. I spend the rest of the intervening time trying to remember every spell I used against Bad Willow last time we fought. It isn't easy. I was caught up in a haze of dark magicks at the time. It seemed like the only way to beat her, and even then I was only holding my own until Tara threw me the dagger. I wish I had that dagger now. It worked so well it was like the thing was meant to kill her. If we could get it somehow, or find the same dagger in our universe, we might have a chance.

Kennedy doesn't help my meditations any. She's a bundle of questions, eager for details that I can't completely supply. Most of what I know of our enemy comes second-hand from what Anya told us after we rescued her. The rest is a blur, vague impressions of when she attacked us at Buffy's house in Sunnydale and when we were fighting in Willowcoven. None of it is all that helpful. None of it gives me a solution to this problem.

All too soon the deadline comes. Thirty seconds before the ten minutes is up I gear myself up to hit Bad Willow with everything I can think of. It won't stop her, but I'm sure it will throw her off-balance long enough for Kennedy and me to escape. I'm confident as all hell of that fifteen seconds before the deadline…until my arms go numb and limp, and my voice disappears, and my memory of spells I've known for ages simply vanishes, and suddenly, without the power to speak, gesture or recall I can't do any magic at all. When the deadline comes Bad Willow appears in front of me. She looks me up and down at first, then she looks me in the eye. "I told you," she says, "I've learned some things too."

Kennedy doesn't hesitate. She charges at Bad Willow with a scream. The evil twin raises her palm toward Ken in a talk-to-the-hand gesture and Ken goes flying backward into the opposite wall. My Slayer slides down to the floor unconscious after the impact.

Bad Willow smiles. "Well, little Nixon won't be bothering us again for a while." Again, the attempt to correct her comes automatically, but without a voice it's a futile one. "Relax," Bad Willow says, "you'll get your voice back as soon as you say one little word: yes, as in 'Yes, Sorceress, I'll help you.'"

I remember what Buffy said and keep my mouth shut. I can't help her. I know the costs of such misuse of magic better than anyone, maybe even better than her.

Bad Willow's smile fades. "You don't know anything," she says. "I guess I'll have to do more to convince you." She puts a hand on my shoulder. A moment later my apartment disappears and Kennedy, Bad Willow and I are in the library of the building in London that Buffy and Giles are using as Slayer Central. Buffy and Giles are in the library as well, along with Xander, Faith, Dawn, Robin and Andrew. All of the others look as confused as I feel.

"What?" Bad Willow says. "You wanted to be together, right? I have no problem with that. Makes things easier for me. If you say 'no' I can destroy you all at once."

"You're not going to destroy anybody!" Buffy says. She charges Bad Willow with blood in her eye. Bad Willow huffs and waves her arm. The gesture sends Buffy flying back into the far wall.

"Does she _always_ have to be so predictable?" Bad Willow asks the room.

"I'm not sure I like your new friend, Red." Faith says to me. Ironically, she manages to keep herself from making the same mistake Kennedy and Buffy made. She approaches us slowly, sizing Bad Willow up. "She tries to be big and scary, but she's not all that bright. That's a bad combination."

"Oh really?" Bad Willow says. "So, what, you intend to educate me?"

Faith is getting closer inch-by-inch, keeping her eyes locked on Bad Willow all the way. "I dunno. It just seems to me that if you were really such Hot Shit you wouldn't be wasting your time trying to force Will to flip to the Dark Side. And all the big UFOs? That's nice and flashy, but impractical, like maybe you're trying to compensate for something."

Bad Willow crosses her arms. "I see…and what exactly would I be compensating for?"

"Oh, the usual inadequacies…like maybe you're thinking if you can't turn our Willow nothing you do will bring back Anya, like if she doesn't help you you're not going to be able to do anything but throw a huge-ass tantrum, and that doesn't help anybody."

"Maybe, but it hurts you more than it hurts me."

"True, but it still doesn't get you what you want. Tantrums never do. They're just cries for attention. All of this is just you saying 'Look at me! I'm all evil and bad-ass and if you don't do what I want I'm'a be reeal mad!' I'm wondering if it ever occurred to you to just ask nicely?"

As Faith talks, I notice Kennedy and Buffy starting to recover. The other Slayers are keeping their eyes on Bad Willow as she listens to Faith. I can't read minds right now, but I don't have to to see that the three of them plan to jump her at once as soon as they're able. I'm just worried about what will happen if my twin figures it out.

"It occurred to me," she says, "but I figured you guys would say 'no', so it made more sense to me to force the issue."

"Still think you're going about it all wrong," Faith says. "Things have changed a lot since you were here last. For one thing, there's a lot more Slayers. If it were me, I'd do less of the showing off and more cloak and dagger stuff aimed at taking out some of that competition."

"Oh, you mean like _I've_ been doing since we got here?"

Faith freezes in her tracks when she hears her own voice. She doesn't turn around to see her own doppelganger, dressed like mine, standing right behind her. I don't blame her. Hearing your voice when you know you're not doing the talking is disturbing enough.

"That prison shrink really was a bullshit artist, wasn't she?" Bad Faith says. "Sounds like you went to as many sessions as I did. You really got her psychobabble down. 'Course, it's about as likely to work on my boss as it was to work on us."

Good Faith smiles. "Can't blame a girl for trying." That's when she turns and uses the moves she was going to use on Bad Willow on her counterpart. Bad Faith dodges the first few blows, then parries the next few, then the two Faiths start trading shots. The fight looks even, but it's not hard to tell that Bad Faith is biding her time while Good Faith is trying her damnedest to lay out her opponent.

Buffy and Kennedy attack Bad Willow again as she watches the fight, trying to take advantage of the distraction. It doesn't help. Without even looking Bad Willow makes that hand gesture again and sends them flying, then she huffs and gives her Faith an annoyed look. "Faith, could we get on with it?"

Good Faith turns out of habit, giving her twin the opening to grab her from behind and immobilize her. "Sorry, Boss," Bad Faith says, "just having a little fun with Mini Me here."

Bad Willow gives me a glance. "I know how you feel, but the other two are starting to get on my nerves, so wouldja mind…?"

"No problem, Sorceress." A second later Good Faith screams and begins to glow. She fights harder to break out of Bad Faith's grip, but the doppelganger is too strong. Soon an inky black mist begins to rise from Good Faith's body. Bad Faith closes her eyes and inhales it.

"In case you haven't figured it out yet," Bad Willow says to Good Faith, "my girl is using a spell I enchanted her with to steal your Slayer powers. In fact, _all_ my Warrior Witches were enchanted with it before we came here! How stupid do I look _now_, bitch?"

Everyone looks on in awe. Kennedy and Buffy look especially terror-struck, and Good Faith looks and sounds like she's in agony. She doesn't stop screaming until the glow fades and the last of the mist leaves her body. Bad Faith lets her victim go then, letting her body fall limp to the floor, then she turns to look at Buffy and Kennedy. She smiles and beckons them with her finger. "Group hug…" With that the Slayers fly through the air and end up in Bad Faith's arms, then they scream as she steals their powers as well. Soon they end up on the floor piled up on top of Good Faith. Bad Faith looks down on them, grinning and panting with the effort.

"Now let's review," Bad Willow says to everyone. "That leaves all the Slayers out of action, your only witch incapacitated, and now the only people in this room with any kind of superpowers are the bad guys. Anyone seeing a pattern?"

Giles clenches his fists and stares her right in the eye. "Only the same pattern of greed, selfishness and brutality that are the hallmarks of any bully or tyrant. The only things that change are the methods. There is nothing particularly new about you, nor will your fate be different from that of any other tyrant."

Bad Willow smiles at him. "Rupert, Rupert…you're only being so brave because you _think_ you've seen the worst Willow can do. Thing is, you haven't met _me_ until today."

"_I've_ met you," Xander says, "and nothing I've seen from you then or since makes me think he's wrong."

"The way I hear it," Robin says, "last anybody heard of you, you were on the floor screaming in pain in your own house. Doesn't sound like you're all that invulnerable to me."

Bad Willow's smile fades and she sighs as she says, "Obviously everyone here is suffering from an over-confidence problem. Where do you think we should start, Faith?"

Bad Faith takes a quick glance at Robin and turns back to Bad Willow. "Ooh…I think I want to dance with that fine black buck over there."

Bad Willow's smile returns. "You go ahead. I'm not really in the mood to dance. I wouldn't mind a nice straight kill though, so I think I'll start with Dawnie."

"Why me?" Dawn asks, incredulous.

"Because you're the youngest and the cutest, which means _everybody_ will be sad to see you snuffed…and it will _really_ piss Buffy off when she wakes up and hears the news." With that she clenches her fist and her eyes turn black, and Robin gets into a fighting stance as Bad Faith turns toward him.

And that's when I realize what I have to do. I take a deep breath and say, "Yes!"

Bad Willow and Bad Faith turn to me. "Yes, _what_?" Bad Willow says.

"Yes," I say, "I'll help you bring Anya back. Just leave everyone alone."

Bad Willow's eyes return to normal as she comes over to me. "Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" She says. "Faith, take everyone else and put them someplace safe until we're done."

"You got it, Sorceress." Bad Faith raises her hand and snaps her fingers and everyone else in the room disappears, leaving just my doppelganger and me.

"Come on," she says as she puts her hand on my shoulder, "we've got a date with a rock pile."

* * *

It's still dark in California when we arrive at the edge of the rocky valley that used to be Sunnydale. We're standing at the end of what used to be the main road into town. A permanent barrier has been erected to stop anybody that decided to ignore the detour signs further up the road. It hardly seems necessary. The last people to visit this place - Federal and State government officials trying to figure out what happened - left years ago. The area is off limits to developers, and nobody who lived here before the destruction of the Hellmouth really wants to come back for a visit.

When our feet are on solid ground again I get feeling back in my arms and I'm starting to remember spells again. "I'm giving you access to your powers," Bad Willow says, "but don't get cute. Try anything now and Faith will pay back every spell with the death of one of your friends."

"I understand," I say. I try to get blood circulating to my hands as Bad Willow goes over to the barrier. She leans over the edge and peers into the rubble as if she's trying to find something she lost, and I guess she is in a way. I've given up the idea of trying to stop her with brute force, but I can't let her go through with it, so my only option is trying to talk her out of it. "We shouldn't be doing this."

She stands up straight and turns to me. "Whether we should or not isn't my concern," she says. "We're _going_ to do this."

"You don't even know if we _can_ do it," I say.

She shakes her head. "I do know. I could do it myself, but not without expending a huge amount of the power I just got back, so I plan to expend _yours_."

"Do you know how Anya died?"

"Of course I do. I've watched her death a thousand times."

"She was human again, and she was killed by a sword."

"I know that. So?"

"So it was a mortal death by mortal means. You can't bring her back from that."

She gives me an incredulous look. "Who made up _that_ rule?"

"The day I lost Tara I tried to bring her back the way you're going to try and bring back Anya, with arcane magic. The demon I petitioned to help me told me that a mortal death by mortal means can't be reversed."

Now she looks at me as if I were insane. "And you _fell_ for that?"

"Whaddya mean 'fell for it'??"

"A demon - who probably hates witches, by the way - tells you you can't bring your witch girlfriend back and you just accept his word as gospel?? No wonder your Faith thought I was stupid! She probably thinks I take after you!"

"Tara died in my arms because I put as much faith in magic as you're about to!"

"No, Tara died in your arms because you had _no clue_ how to use your magic properly!"

"But the demon said…!"

"Oh, _fuck_ what the demon said! Look, Tara died of a bullet through the heart, right?" I nod. "Well, did it occur to you to use your telekinetic abilities to keep blood flowing to her brain and other vital organs so the damage to the heart wouldn't have been immediately fatal?"

"Well, no, but…"

"Or how about using some of those force fields you love so much to keep her from losing too much blood?"

"No, but…!"

"Or how about just plain screaming for help really loud in a magically amplified voice so that someone with sense could come to her rescue?"

"But who would have come?"

"How about one of the two paramedics working on Buffy _right in the fucking backyard??_"

I want to answer, but I can't. None of that occurred to me as Tara was dying, but none of it occurred to me at any time after she died either. I just accepted that there was nothing I could have done to keep her with me, and now that I realize I was wrong…Oh god, _Tara_…

When she sees I can't answer she begins to pace. She doesn't stop until she's ready to berate me again. "You know what kills me about you, Girl Scout? You _could_ be me, but the main reason you're not has nothing to do with our motivations and everything to do with the fact that the love of your life had to _die_ before you got to the point where you halfway took your magic seriously! When you first started doing it, it was a game! When you were with Tara it was an aphrodisiac! When you were with Amy it was a drug! When you lost Tara it was a blowtorch! The main reason you're nowhere near as powerful today as you could be is because it wasn't until after you tried to fry the world that you figured out what Wiccan magic is!"

"And what would _that_ be?"

"An extension of our _will_, just like any other tool!" With that, she turns to Sunnydale Valley and extends her hand over the barrier. A second later the rocks and dirt erupt in a tornado that reaches into the clouds. She watches the dirt storm intently until she finds what she wants. She beckons the object with her extended hand and keeps the storm going as it approaches. As it gets closer the place we're standing is bathed in an artificial light so that we can see it more clearly. It's a corpse, a skeleton of a human being, the flesh and clothing long rotted away. Bad Willow draws the corpse all the way past the barrier and lets it down gently on the road near us. Only then does she let the rubble collapse back into the pit.

My gaze is fixed on the corpse. "Is that…?"

"Kneel down in front of her," Bad Willow says. I comply, not sure of what else to do. When I'm on the ground she stands behind me and puts her hands on my shoulders. "Repeat after me: _Potencia a mi Geminus._"

"Potenseeuh ah me Geminoose…" I say.

"You'll start us off by chanting that. Whatever happens, don't _stop_ chanting it until I tell you. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

She straightens up and squeezes my shoulders. "Start now."

I begin the chant. "Potencia a mi Geminus…Potencia a mi Geminus…" In the middle of the third repetition I suddenly feel like my body is on fire! From that point on I have to scream the words to avoid simply screaming in pain! Only then does Bad Willow start her part of the spell. She begins to recite words in a language I don't recognize. Her voice echoes in the air and through my mind and seems to build in volume and intensity as she recites! My pain intensifies when she reaches the end of the spell. I can feel every ounce of my power flowing into her, and in turn flowing into the corpse before us! After a few minutes have passed, when I can let the pain wash over me and can chant in a relatively normal tone of voice, I look down at the skeleton. It's glowing white-hot. The energy it's giving off is melting the blacktop. Just when I think it will melt itself into the ground, the skeleton levitates until it's eye level with Bad Willow, then it begins to spin. Slowly, incredibly, the brittle bones become whole and strong again, muscle begins to reconstitute itself, blood flows through the sinews, skin grows onto the muscles, healthy pink skin. The body stops rotating when its hair begins to grow - long, light brown hair - then it's lowered to the ground until it's resting on the cooling street.

Through it all I continue to chant, but I stare in awe at the body's face. It's Anya, just as she looked when we first met, whole, untouched. Bad Willow says one final word, then Anya's eyes spring open and she sucks in a desperate breath of air.

"Stop!" Bad Willow calls out. She lets me go and has Anya cradled in her arms before I can even sense it. The sudden release leaves me weak and dizzy. I manage to keep from falling all the way to the ground, but I can only support myself on my elbows. As I lay there I look on in amazement at this strange reunion.

Anya is breathing on her own. Bad Willow is cradling her nude form and staring into her eyes. I don't understand what she's waiting for until Anya shakes her head a little to clear it, then turns to my twin and says in a weak and confused voice, "Willow…?"

Only then does Bad Willow's mask collapse. For a split second she goes from avenging goddess to joyful lover. Her lip quivers and she has to squint away tears. She brings Anya's face close to hers and holds her tight to her chest as she stands. She doesn't turn back to me until she can get back some semblance of composure, and even then I can hear the emotion in her voice when she whispers to me, "Thank you."

Neither of us says anything else until two of Bad Willow's warriors appear near me. In a stronger voice she tells them, "Take her and put her with her friends. Make them all as comfortable as you can, but don't let any of them out of your sight."

"Yes, Sorceress," one of them says. I feel each of them grab an arm and lift me into a standing position. Deep down I want to resist, but I'm utterly powerless. Just before the other witches teleport me away I catch a glimpse of Bad Willow floating into the air, carrying the reincarnated Anya off to God-knows-where.

_I'm so sorry, Anya_, is the only thought that occupies my mind. _I'm so very sorry_.


	2. Proposals

**DISCLAIMER: **_Buffy-The Vampire Slayer and all related characters are the property of Mutant Enemy Productions, Inc., Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises and Twentieth Century-Fox Television. No copyright infringement is intended. This work of fiction is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. The story and all original characters are the sole property of the author and may not be used or archived without permission._

**RAISING ANYA,**

**FACING WILLOW**

**By Darrin Colbourne**

**

* * *

**

**Anya**

It takes a moment for me to get my bearings when I wake up. I find myself lying naked in a bed made up with white linens in a room done all in white. This includes the furnishings, which are all American Colonial style, and the thick, pile carpeting.

I cover myself with the bedsheets as I sit up to take a better look around. Off to my left is a picture window that looks out on a blue sky full of fluffy white clouds. Just to the right of the bed is a dining cart draped with a white cloth. Sitting on the cart is a setting for one dominated by a covered silver tray so highly polished I can see my reflection clearly in it. It's the first time in ages that I've seen my own face and hair. I'm brunette again, and my hair is long and straight. I frown at this, mainly because I'm not sure how I should feel about it.

When I'm done checking myself out I reach out and lift the cover from the tray. There's nothing underneath. I cover it back up in frustration. The one feeling I'm sure of is one of hunger. It would have been nice to find some New England Clam Chowder or something. Just as I think that a familiar smell comes from the tray. I open it again. Sitting there now is a hot, delicious-smelling bowl of clam chowder. I cover the tray again, this time in fright. Maybe I'm not all that hungry after all.

I look around the room again as I try to figure out how I got here. My most recent memory seems like a dream. I woke up looking into Willow's eyes, then I fell asleep in her arms as she carried me into the night. That has to have been a dream, because the clearest memory I have before that is one of pain, a slashing pain that went through my body. It didn't last very long, but it was intense, and all I remember after that is oblivion. That's why I'm sure the part with Willow was a dream. The pain and oblivion could only mean one thing, and the Willow I know would never have tried to undo it.

Then, just like with the chowder, just as soon as I think about her, Willow appears. She's standing at the foot of the bed wearing a white pullover and slacks and a small, dreamy smile, and she's got her hands clasped in front of her chest and is looking at me like I'm her favorite pop star.

And then everything is clear. "You," I say.

She lowers her hands, but keeps them clasped together. She starts wringing them as she talks to me nervously. "You're probably angry. I get that. I figured you'd also be hungry. I left the tray for you. It'll give you whatever you want. You just have to think about it."

"I saw that," I say. "I'm not hungry." It's a lie and she knows it as well as I do, but I _am_ angry, so I turn away from her and focus my gaze on the picture window.

To her credit she doesn't try to jump back into my field of vision. "Okay…is there _anything_ I can do for you? Just tell me and I'll do it."

I turn back to her. "You can tell me why. Why did you bring me back?"

Her face falls at that. "How can you ask that? I did it because I love you and wanted you with me again."

I turn back to the window. "Oh, bullshit."

"It's true! I only did it because I love you!"

"Willow, I know you feel something for me, but it's not love. It's never been love. If you truly loved me you would simply have mourned me, honored me. You wouldn't have resurrected me. That was a selfish act, one to satisfy your needs, not any of mine." When she doesn't answer immediately I turn back to her. "This would be the part where you tell me I'm wrong and it really _is_ love." When she just lowers her head I turn back to the window. "You can't absolutely lie to me. I suppose that means something."

She gets defensive. "Well, can _you_ honestly say you were happier where you were?"

I smile as my memory of oblivion gets clearer. "I think it was heaven."

"I figured that. Congratulations for getting there, by the way. Anyway, that's why I made the room this way, so it would remind you of heaven."

I look around the room. "You have no idea what heaven is."

"Never been," she says with a shrug, "and it's a pretty safe bet I'll never get an invitation."

"Doesn't that bother you at all?"

"I'd never have gotten where I am if it did."

"You're hopeless," I say with a sigh.

She comes close to the bed and kneels down where I can see her. "Anya, please…doubt me if you must, hate me if you want, but I only brought you back because I missed you so much! We never had a real chance to be together, partly because of you…"

I give her an incredulous look. "Forgive me if I didn't feel like spending eternity as your security blanket!"

She shakes her head. "Okay, fine, I get that, but you didn't have to! I told you then and I'm telling you now that you can be anything you want, have anything you want! You're my _queen_, not a security blanket!"

"I suppose you think you mean that…"

"I _do_ mean it! I'll state it is plainly as possible: tell me what I have to do to get you to stay with me and I'll do it! What do you want from me that I can give you so that you'll never try to leave? _Please_ tell me!"

"You mean 'What's my price?'"

She smiles. "You always were a good capitalist, Anya. There must be something I have that would make it worth your while to stay with me. Tell me what it is and I'll have it for you before you can blink."

I look to the window again as I think about it. "Anything I want?"

"Anything! Just tell me!"

I take a deep breath. "You know what I want most? Power."

"But that's easy! You'll have power just by being with me!"

I look at her. "Not so fast. I don't want any power that's dependent on your whims. I don't want it just stripped from me the day you get bored or angry with me. I want Amy's power."

She looks confused. "Amy's dead."

I smile. "So was I. I'm not asking you to bring Amy back. Just her power."

"Okay…I guess I could get you Amy's power…"

"And her job. I want administrative control of your empire."

She hesitates for a minute. "Administrative control?"

I smile wider. "You said _anything_."

She sighs. "I guess I did. Okay, Amy's power and job. Anything else?"

I look to the window again. "I want you to make an honest woman of me. If you want a relationship with me you're going to have to prove there's more to it than just chemistry. I want a real commitment."

She grins at that. "Not a problem!"

"Don't say it if you don't mean it. You can't just decide to take me one day…"

"I swear, Anya! If you want a commitment, that's what you'll get! Anything else?"

"Have I forgotten something?"

She looks at me sheepishly. "Well…you know me. I sort of brought a big ol' army to your reality and I threatened your friends."

"Ah," I say.

"They're okay! They're on this ship with us!"

"We're on a ship?"

"Yes. They're being treated well. I'll release them if you want, and we can withdraw to my universe at any time."

I raise an eyebrow. "Now why would I want you to do that?"

She's taken aback, just like I knew she would be. "You mean you _don't_ want me to release them?"

I look to the window. "Do you know what they were doing when I died?"

"I do. I saw."

"So did I when my soul left my body. They were laughing and cheering. I got split in half defending the geek and they were just happy they escaped the landslide. I didn't escape it. They just accepted I was dead and moved on. They didn't even try to help me." I turn to her. "So maybe you can understand how I'm not feeling all that charitable. I say leave my 'friends' wherever you have them."

There's an evil gleam in her eye. "And your world?"

"It never gave me anything but grief anyway. Put your army to good use. Make this world a wedding present to me."

"You're serious?"

"Completely."

Now she looks away, trying to take it all in. When she looks back: "So, you want Amy's power and job, a real commitment and your friends and your world at your feet? Is that it?" I nod. "And if I give you all that, you'll stay with me? You won't ever try to leave?"

I nod again. "I'll stay with you, till death do us part."

She can't help a little girlish giggle when she hears that. It's almost cute. She's still smiling as she stands in front of me. "We can get started right now." She holds out her hand. "Come on. I need you to stand."

I look down at the sheet. "You know I'm not decent under here."

"And I've seen it all. I put you in the bed, remember?" When I give her a wary look: "Oh, I promise I'll show restraint! Just come on."

I hesitate for a moment longer, then sigh and climb out of the bed. Willow watches me the whole way, eyeing me as if awestruck by my beauty, which is flattering if nothing else. "What now?" I ask as I take her hand.

"Come on." She leads me to a bare part of the floor, then stretches out her free hand. A large pentagram gets burned into the carpet in the wink of an eye. "Stand in the middle."

"It's always pentagrams with you, isn't it?" I say as I comply.

She shrugs. "I always go with what works. Pentagrams do the job."

"So, now what?"

She grins and does a little sleight of hand, then walks over to me with a pair of pink, frilly bikini panties stretched between her fingers. "Put these on."

I take the panties and examine them, then look at her. "What could these _possibly_ have to do with anything?"

"You'll need to be wearing a totem to draw the power to you."

"Okay, that makes sense, but why panties? Why not just give me one of your little pendant-thingies?"

"One of those would be fine if you wanted power taken from me, and you'll still need one to manage the empire, but you said you wanted Amy's power, so you need a totem that was attached to her."

"So these are _Amy's_ panties?" I wince. "Are you nuts?? I'm not…"

"Relax. She never wore them."

"How do you know that?"

"Can't you just take my word for it?" I give her a raised eyebrow. "Fine. I was there the day she bought them. She said she wanted to save them for a special occasion."

I cross my arms. "And you know that special occasion never happened because…?"

She sighs. "I never _saw_ her wearing them, okay? I used to do the x-ray vision thing with her clothes and I never saw her wearing those panties under them." She sees the look on my face. "What?? Amy was hot, and you can't possibly be surprised by anything I've ever done at this point!"

If it's true what they say about arguing with an idiot making you an idiot, what does it mean for arguing with an utter psychopath? I decide not waste energy finding out. I put on the panties. "Now what?"

She grins and moves to hug me from behind, pressing into me as closely as possible. Her right arm wraps around my breasts, while her left hand slides slowly down my left side and around to my lower back, then ever-so-slowly into the waistband of the panties.

"This is how you show restraint?" I whisper to her.

"I have to be touching both you and the panties for the spell to work," she whispers back.

"Plenty of ways you could manage that."

"None of them are anywhere _near_ as much fun."

"Anyone ever tell you that you have a one-track mind?"

"You did, on our first dinner date."

"You remember that?"

"I remember everything about our time together, good and bad."

Again, not going to waste energy arguing with the psychopath. I just wrap my arms around her right one and surrender to the embrace. "What next?"

"Brace yourself." She gives me a soft kiss on the neck and begins to chant. The language is ancient, but it's not so old and dead that I don't recognize it. It was spoken by certain pure demons I remember from my days working for D'Hoffryn. She's asking someone for a big favor, or maybe calling in a marker. Either way, I realize that when the favor is finally granted, it's going to hurt…a _lot_.

I instantly regret being right as I start to glow and the lightning-bolt like pain hits! I scream like I've never screamed before, trying to reach every deity in the multiverse with the sound! As I scream and as I agonize the multiverse answers, opening itself up to me! All at once I'm looking down at the Earth from the stars and up from inner space at the form of everything around me! I feel every heartbeat, every thought, every emotion in Willow's empire simultaneously, and my screams devolve into sobs as I break down trying to cope with it all!

Through all the chaos is Willow's voice. "Think of me," it says, "focus on _me_. Come back, Anya."

A second later my perspective fades back to normal. I find myself on my knees on the carpet. Willow is still holding me, trying to comfort me with her closeness. I'm ashamed to say it's working. "Please tell me it's over," I whisper.

"It took years for Amy to amass the kind of power I just transferred to you," she says. "She worked as hard at it as I did. She might have been as powerful as me. I don't know for sure. She never challenged me."

I look back at her. "So I have her power?"

"Every bit of it. It's energy, so it couldn't be destroyed when she was. It was waiting all over the multiverse. I just had to find it."

I move my right hand so that I can look down at the palm. After a second or two I can see sparks of energy coursing through my hand. "It's like when I was a Vengeance Demon…" I say.

"Only you don't have to wait for a wish to show your stuff," she says. "Try it." She finally backs off a little and helps me to stand, then she backs off more and waits for me to try my new abilities.

I look at her for a second, then point at the panties. "Well first, these aren't for me." With a thought I transform them from Frederick's Of Hollywood rejects to more respectable, nude Hanes Her Way boyleg panties. "That's better." I take a moment to conjure a matching bra and stockings, then I model the set for Willow. "You like?"

"I _love_," she says with a grin, "but obviously I'm biased."

"Flatterer. Let's see. I know how you like your witches to dress." I conjure a black, knee-length skirt and matching high-heeled pumps, then a burgundy, button-down blouse. I take a moment to use my new-found telekinetic ability to move the full-length mirror in the room close enough for me to inspect myself. "Not bad…gotta do something about the hair, though." On a whim the color starts to fade from dark brown to gold. I add color and body and curl, until I have that great Girl Next Door look. A hint of will adds a hint of make-up and a cute pair of earrings. A final inspection puts a smile on my face. "There. All pretty and proper again."

I turn to Willow and my smile fades as I find her on her knees again, just staring at me. "I know it's a lot to ask," she says, "but could you just stay exactly like that absolutely _forever_?"

I cross my arms and smile. "What do you think? Or better yet, tell me what _I_ think of that idea."

She looks into my eyes, then frowns. "No, huh?"

I grin. "You have more work to do, don't you?"

"Right." She stands and comes back into the pentagram with me, then holds up her right hand. A tree-and-pentagram pendant falls out of it and dangles on the chain wrapped around her finger. "Put this on." Without a word I turn my back to her and move my hair away from my neck. She explains how the object works as she puts it on me herself. "The charm will allow you to control your ability to read the other witches' thoughts and manage their actions, plus it keeps you connected with me at all times."

"What about the little computer?" I say.

"That? Amy only used it because she liked to 'see' what she was doing, and the Administrators she trained personally followed suit. It isn't really necessary."

"Maybe," I say as I turn back to her, "but why mess with tradition?" I conjure a Palm-Pilot type hand-held computer and use it to make a cursory inspection of Willow's empire at light-speed. When I'm done, I say, "I'll handle the wedding arrangements myself. You're going to have your hands full here. You'll need reinforcements. These ships are impressive, but the way you conquer a place…"

"I know. I told you I was ready to leave on your say-so. I didn't plan on conquering the place."

"Well plans change, don't they, Sorceress?"

She's surprised by my use of the title. "I suppose they do."

"Glad we agree. Now, why don't you show me around this ship of yours?"

Willow smiles and changes into her familiar pantsuit, complete with a blouse that matches my own. She offers me her arm and I take it gladly. A moment later she leads me toward a far corner of the room. We disappear before we're halfway there.

* * *

The tour of the ship doesn't take very long. Most of its interior is taken up by the machinery for a particularly nasty bombardment weapon and barracks for about a million Warrior Witches. There isn't anything so cliché as little dogfighting flying saucers, but there are hundreds of vehicles like sedans and SUVs, presumably for when said Warrior Witches start occupying the planet for real. The ship itself is run by Administrators, who are pretty much as I remember them from my visit to Willowcoven. They're assisted by assorted Novitiates, whose wardrobe has been - slightly - altered from the panty-revealing miniskirts and white blouses I remember to black hotpants and turtlenecks. It's only an improvement in that it's only slightly less perverted than the original uniform.

The biggest wardrobe change of all is that the Warriors all seem to have given up their suits and gone for the "Evil Pilates" look - black athletic jerseys, long, loose exercise pants and running shoes. I mention it to Willow just before we teleport to the ship's control room. "That's our Slayer-fightin' gear," she says. "Faith thinks it will help our people deal more effectively with all the Slayers your Willow unleashed in this reality."

"Ah-ah-ah," I say when we're in the control room. "_You're_ my Willow now. I want nothing to do with the people from my old life."

She looks at me. "I think you really mean that."

"Well…maybe I'll invite them to the wedding, but after that…" My thoughts wander as I look around. The control room is a large circular space surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows that look out on the blue sky, a view that confirms for me that we're at the top of the saucer. There are control stations all around the circumference that are manned by Administrators. In the center of the space is one of those really cool map tables like the ones in all the war movies. Standing around the table are four or five Warriors and their boss, Faith.

Willow leads me right over to the table. Faith looks up at us when we're a few steps away and smiles. "Hi, Willow," she says, "and welcome back, Anya. What brings you two up here?"

"I have an announcement, Faith," Willow says. "Actually, several announcements. First, Anya here is going to take over as our new Chief Administrator."

"Really?" Faith says, and even though her smile never wavers one of the perques of being a powerful witch is that I can _feel_ just how much the idea frightens her. She offers me her hand anyway. "In that case, welcome to the coven, Anya."

"Thank you," I say as we shake hands. I'm wearing a big phony smile of my own.

"Aaand," Willow says, barely suppressing another giggle, "we're getting _married!_"

Faith's smile gets wider, but only to mask even greater worry. "Oh, wow, Will, that's great! I'm happy for you…both of you! I'm sure you'll be happy together."

I nod in agreement, then look reverently at Willow as she delivers the next bombshell. "And - and this should make you happy, Faith - we're not leaving. We're going to take over this world."

_That's_ when Faith's smile disappears. "We are? But I thought…"

Willow addresses her response to me. "You should have seen her before we came here, Anya. She was all like, 'It'll be a shame to bring all this firepower here and not use it just 'cause Anya says so.'" She turns to Faith. "Well, you don't have to worry. Anya agrees with you, so we'll change our plans."

Faith tries to resurrect her smile, but it's nowhere near as convincing as before. "That's…wonderful. I'll get started on revising our plans right away."

"Start with sending for reinforcements."

The Wiccan Slayer bristles at that. "All due respect, Will, I think we have more than enough witches here already to take this world."

"I disagree," I say. "The biggest hurdle we'll face is all the Slayers that are here."

"And I've been dealing with them," Faith says to me. "As of now thirty percent of all those Slayers are either dead or de-powered…"

"But the toughest Slayers will have been trained by Buffy, and if I recall correctly, she _dusted_ a hundred of your Warriors by herself the last time I was with you all."

"Buffy is currently powerless and safely locked away, and the weapon she used is safely out of her reach."

"Buffy has been powerless and secured before - and so has your counterpart, by the way - and they've both managed to escape and come back to bite the bad guys on the rear end. And how do you know they can't find a similar weapon here?"

"I don't, but…"

"Then it makes sense to bring enough witches to make sure they don't, and by my calculations that's more than you already have."

Faith wants to say something else, but Willow doesn't let her. "That settles it, then. Faith, get started with bringing in those reinforcements."

To her credit, I can only see a hint of the anger Faith is feeling on her face, and all she says is, "Of course, Sorceress."

Willow smiles at the show of obedience, then winces and pinches the bridge of her nose. I play the caring fiancé. "What's wrong, dear?"

"All of this is taking more out of me than I expected," Willow says.

"Oh, well then you should go get some rest. Faith and I can take care of things by ourselves."

"But…I want you to come with me back to my room…"

"I'm sure somebody can help me get there. I'll be along in a few minutes. I promise." I punctuate the promise with a soft kiss on her cheek. She blushes appropriately and smiles at me, then pulls away and fades out of the room.

My attention is still on the empty air where Willow was standing when Faith approaches me from behind. "You surprise me, Ahn," she says. "I would have thought you'd demand Willow leave your precious reality as payment for you staying with her."

Translation: _I know why I want her to stay. Why do you?_ Sorry, Faith, but I don't owe you any explanations. I continue to stare at the empty air as I say, "Tried that before. Didn't work out so well. Trying this now."

"Right. Well, now that you're a part of the Coven there are a few things you should keep in mind. One of them is that things often work best when Administrators do what Warriors say."

That's when I turn to her, and the slight smile on my face matches her own. "Oh, I'll keep that in mind, and while I'm doing that, _you_ might want to keep in mind that I'm no ordinary Administrator, and for all practical purposes the only person in this whole outfit that _doesn't_ have to do what I say is _Willow_…and chances are she will anyway. Now, are we _really_ going to have an issue between us about who follows who's orders?"

There's a long silence as we stare each other down. Faith manages to find her phony smile again as she speaks up. "There's no issue between us. We're all part of the same team, right?"

"Right, so you won't mind having a couple of your Warriors run an errand for me, will you?"

"Of course not."

"'Of course not' _what_?"

The phony smile disappears again and she talks through her teeth as she corrects herself. "Of course not, _Mistress_."

I grin. This is going to be more fun than I thought. "Very good. Here's what I want done…"


	3. One simple wish

**DISCLAIMER: **_Buffy-The Vampire Slayer and all related characters are the property of Mutant Enemy Productions, Inc., Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises and Twentieth Century-Fox Television. No copyright infringement is intended. This work of fiction is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. The story and all original characters are the sole property of the author and may not be used or archived without permission._

**RAISING ANYA,**

**FACING WILLOW**

**By Darrin Colbourne**

* * *

**Willow**

For the hundredth time I look at the palm of my hand, trying to find some trace of the magic I used to be able to wield. For the hundredth time I see nothing. After all these years, after all the spells I've flubbed and mastered, I'm back where I was before I met Buffy, normal, non-wiccan Willow Rosenberg.

I sigh as I lower my hand and look around. I'm sitting on one of the little round couches in a replica of the lobby of the Hyperion Hotel. I have no idea why my doppelganger decided to imprison us here. I don't even understand _how_ she did it. All I know is that, aside from the ones leading to the rest rooms, none of the doors lead anywhere and the main staircase simply disappears into the darkness. There's no escape, at least not that anybody has found. We all gave up trying long ago. Kennedy is sitting next to me on the little round sofa. Robin is keeping Faith company on a normal sized couch. Xander and Andrew have gotten into a good-natured geek argument about which iconic sci-fi villain Bad Willow most reminds them of. Only Buffy and Giles still seem to have any hope of finding a way to escape. They're behind the reception desk discussing options. Dawn is standing nearby, taking an interest in their conversation but not joining in.

I check my watch. I'm not surprised to find that it's stopped. Time always seems wonky around Bad Willow and her witches. The problem is I have no idea what time it is. A couple of half-dressed servant girls brought us food as soon as I was dropped off in the lobby, but it feels like that was hours ago. There was some talk of kidnapping one of them the next time they showed up and using the poor girl as a hostage. Maybe that's why they haven't sent anybody else.

Thought too soon. Two warrior witches appear before me, startling me out of my meditations. Kennedy is on her feet immediately, ready to fight them with or without her Slayer abilities. The witches ignore her. "The Mistress wishes to see you," one of them says to me.

"The 'Mistress' can go fuck herself!" Kennedy says. "Hasn't she done enough to Willow?"

I touch her wrist. "It's okay, Ken."

"But what if she wants to kill you now that she's gotten rid of your powers?"

I shake my head. "It's not her. They call her 'Sorceress'."

"Well…then who the hell is the 'Mistress'?"

I stand as I tell her. "'Mistress' is what my evil twin makes them call…"

* * *

Anya. I spot her as soon as the witches and I reappear in a white bedroom. She's standing by a large window looking out at the sky. She seems healthy and she's dressed the way she used to dress all the time when she owned the Magic Box. She doesn't turn around when she says, "You can leave us now." 

The witches don't go anywhere. "Are you sure?" One says.

There's a pause, then Anya says, "This isn't going to be a very long career for you if you insist on questioning my orders. You may leave us."

"Yes, Mistress," the witches say in unison, then they disappear and leave us alone.

"Come stand by me, Willow," Anya says. I walk over to the window and stand next to her. I look at her, but she continues to look out at the sky, so I start looking out as well. We're above the clouds. They're especially fluffy.

"Anya, I'm sorry," I say. I needed to say it. "I didn't want to…bring you back…"

"Because of how it had to be done," Anya says, "or just because you never liked me all that much?"

I turn to her in shock. "Anya! How could you think that of me?"

That's when she turns to me, a small smile on her face. "Wow. If you only knew how much you sounded like her just then…"

I ignore the comment. "Anya, if I could have saved you I would have. _Believe me_, I have far too few real friends, and I consider you one of them."

"You mean that?"

"I do."

She nods and turns back to the view. "It was just a question. I just had to know. So…you're sorry for using dark magic to raise me from the dead?"

I nod and turn back to the view. "_She_ used the magic. She used my powers to fuel it. I didn't have a choice. If I hadn't helped her…"

"She would have destroyed the world," Anya finishes. "Been there."

We don't say anything else for a minute or two after that. "You look nice," I say, just to break the silence.

"Thanks," she says, "made the outfit myself."

"Oh. So…you're the Mistress again?"

"Looks that way."

"I don't suppose that's just part of some really clever plan to get us all out of this?"

"Nope. No plans. I'm committing myself to her completely."

I turn to her. "You don't have to. You can help us stop her."

"Willow, she crossed dimensions with an army of witches and stole your powers to raise me from the rocky grave I've been in for the past three years. All that, just to have me. There's no point trying to resist." She turns to look me in the eye. "That's mainly why I called you here. You need to see that Willow gets what she wants. To start, you're coming to our wedding. Afterwards, you'll witness the conquest of your world."

"It's your world, too."

"Not anymore."

More silence as we stare at each other, then I say, "I'm not going to watch you betray us to her."

Anya shakes her head. "I'm not giving you a choice in the matter. You're coming to my wedding, and so is everyone else."

"Or what? Are you going to threaten us too? You've already told me you're going to take over the world, no matter what, so what's left? Will you kill us?"

"I don't have to threaten you." With that she touches a finger to my forehead. Before I realize what's happened I'm back in the hotel lobby replica.

All the others gather around me immediately. Kennedy, naturally, is closest. "What happened?"

I sigh. "Cheer up, guys. We're going to a wedding."

* * *

I mark time by the meals the servant girls bring us. We spend the night in our strange little prison. Kennedy and I manage to fall asleep a few hours after dinner time. It's hard to do given the noise. Xander and Buffy spend most of the time arguing. Xander rages about the injustice of having to see _his_ Anya giving herself up to Bad Willow while Buffy tries to talk him down with the promise of finding a way to make our escape at the wedding. Everyone gets to sleep eventually, though, and the next morning we wake to find the lobby full of warrior and servant witches. The servants are carrying fresh clothes for all of us. They've brought suits and ties for the men and various formal, summery dresses for the women. "It's time for all of you to get ready," one of the girls says as they pass the stuff out. "The Sorceress and Mistress are taking their vows today!" 

"You make that sound like a good thing," Xander says to her.

"Oh, but it is! It will be a wonderful union, one that will enrich and strengthen the Coven!"

"Oh, well, since you put it that way, I hate the idea even more."

Before the girl can say anything else, Faith speaks up. She's holding the dress she was given as if it has the plague. "Oh, hell no. I get that we're all prisoners in this little psycho-fuck fantasy you people call Reality, but if your boss thinks I'm wearing this shit in public…!"

Her complaints are cut off when she starts to choke. It isn't long before she starts to collapse. Everyone else's eyes are on her, but I turn immediately to the warrior witches. One of them has a hand up, and the thumb and forefinger are slowly closing in on each other. "She'll wear it!" I tell her. She lowers her hand and a second later Faith falls to her hands and knees as she catches her breath. I turn back to the witch. "We'll all cooperate. There's no need to force the issue."

"You don't need to speak for me, Will," Faith rasps as she gets back on her feet.

"Whatever you're thinking," I say, "it won't happen if you're dead." Then I mouth _Just wear the damn dress._ There aren't any protests after that. The servant witches split us up dormitory style and help us all get ready. There's no attempt to rush us, which makes me think that the wedding will happen on time no matter what happens. About an hour later we're all looking our Sunday Best and ready to go. One of the warriors takes care of that by raising her arm and snapping her fingers.

A second later the lobby disappears and all of us are standing in the middle of a massive botanical garden. Roses, lilies, daisies and other flowers are arranged in striking patterns as far as the eye can see. The set-up for the wedding is nearby. Chairs are set up in two sections on either side of a wide aisle and are facing an ivy-covered white gazebo. The beginning of the aisle is branded with Willowcoven's symbol, just to remind everyone where we are, I guess. The servant witches lead us down the aisle until we're close to the gazebo, then start seating us in the front rows in the section of chairs on the right. Before this the whole section was empty. The other section is filled with witches of various stripes. It only takes me a second to realize our section must have been set aside for the bride's family. It's nice to know Anya thinks of us that way, regardless of what she may be planning to do with us when the wedding's over.

There are two people in the gazebo. One is a tall African-American woman with long auburn hair wearing long black robes and a black vestment marked with old runes. I assume she's the priest, or priestess, whatever. The other is my evil twin, decked-out in one of her black pantsuits and a frilly white blouse. She's pacing back and forth like a good nervous groom and chatting with the other woman, probably looking for reassurance. At one point she notices us and offers me a small smile and quick wave. I want to strangle her, but I'm sure I'd be dead before I got halfway to the gazebo, so I keep still. As I calm down it occurs to me to wonder where the other Faith is. I would think Bad Willow would want her as a Best Man or Woman or whatever. Probably too busy taking over our world to attend, but would that have made a difference if Willow wanted her here? _Maybe **Anya** didn't want her here_. The thought comes out of nowhere, and as much sense as it seems to make it just leads to more questions, starting with why _wouldn't_ Anya want Bad Faith at her wedding? Is it because Good Faith was invited and she didn't want doppelgangers to clash on her day? And if that's the reason, why invite _me?_ _You need to see that Willow gets what she wants_, Anya told me, but what does that really mean?

I don't have time to wonder about it any more. An invisible string quartet starts to play, which I assume is a cue for everyone to get into their places because Bad Willow stops pacing and stands still on the priestess's left while the priestess conjures a small scroll. When they're ready there's a subtle change to the music and all the witches in the setting turn back to look at the end of the aisle, then we all look.

There's nothing to see at first, then someone materializes on top of the tree-and-pentagram symbol. It's Anya. She's wearing a long white wedding dress - one that's more attractive and tasteful than the last one I saw her in - and holding a bouquet of white roses. The strings begin to play "Here Comes The Bride" as she takes her first step toward the gazebo. All eyes are on her as she makes her way down the aisle and she knows it. She's smiling wide and holding her head high, a stance she alters only long enough to glance at us as she passes, then when she gets to the gazebo all her attention is on Bad Willow. The two join hands and turn to face the priestess.

The ceremony is a Wiccan Binding Ritual. I recognize it because it was the ritual I had in mind when I once thought about asking Tara to marry me. I remember that I had the whole thing planned in my head. We'd have gone to a common law state, or a country that recognizes gay marriage and had the ceremony. I'd've been the "groom" and Tara would've been the bride and she'd have been dressed in one of those long white skirts and…

I force myself back to the present as I remember why I never made the dream a reality. The last time I thought seriously about doing it was the morning of the day Tara died.

I pay attention to the rest of the ceremony to distract myself from my regrets, managing not to let it bother me anymore until it gets to the point where Anya and Bad Willow kiss. I'd like to say that I've never seen anything more disturbing, but I remember the night I saw Bad Willow and Anya's doppelganger making love like it was yesterday. It's one of a thousand memories I don't want but can't get rid of. The witches on the other side of the aisle don't seem to have a problem with it. They're on their feet applauding and cheering at the sight, and the newlyweds are grinning as they break apart and turn to face the witnesses. Nobody on Anya's side of the gathering is smiling, and only Xander, who looks pissed beyond measure, manages anything like a clap, only there's nothing celebratory about it. Bad Willow and Anya ignore us as they leave the gazebo and head back up the aisle hand in hand. Apparently our opinion doesn't matter.

When they disappear and the other witches start to disappear as well we think it's over, but we get another surprise when one of our guards snaps her finger in the air again. This time we end up in one of those big rooms in the witches' headquarters. It's a dining hall decorated in white and set up for what must be the reception.

Kennedy, standing next to me, takes my hand and whispers to me, "If they expect us to mingle with these bitches I'm going to take the cake knife and slit my own throat! I'm _not_ kidding!"

I give her hand a little squeeze to show my sympathy, but I know that we have to see this through. It's what Anya wants, and I already know she's not going to let us back out. Our servant witches lead us to tables where we can sit and watch the usual festivities. Anya and Bad Willow cut the cake, have their first dance and toss the bouquet and Anya's garter. After that the reception turns into a typical party, where all the witches are having a good time and us non-witches play the part of the wallflowers.

After a long stint of mingling with their subjects Anya and Bad Willow finally make their way over to our tables. "You guys having fun?" Anya asks with a perfectly sincere smile on her face.

Xander smiles back, but the sentiment behind it is dark. "Anya," he says, "I can say in all honesty that that has to be the _stupidest_ question I've ever heard you ask, and believe me, I'm an expert."

Anya's face falls immediately at that remark. Bad Willow moves closer to her and whispers with a smirk, "My Scoobies were all killjoys too."

"What did you do about it?" Anya whispers back.

Bad Willow just looks at her funny.

"Right," Anya says, "that would be another stupid question." She looks at us. "Well, if you're going to be that way I don't want you here anymore." With that she waves her hand in our general direction and everyone but Kennedy and me disappears. The others have most likely gone back to our hotel-lobby prison.

"What about us?" I ask as the pair gets close to us.

"You'll go back in minute," Anya says, "but I want to talk with you again. She's here because I know she won't want to go back without you." She reaches out a hand to me.

Kennedy stands and gets between Anya and me. "No way! Any time one of you takes off with Willow we all end up in deeper shit! I'm not letting you near her again!"

Anya sighs and turns to her mate. "Willow, would you please?"

Bad Willow reaches a hand out to Kennedy. "Come on, Carter…"

Kennedy grows livid. "It's _Kennedy_, you…!"

Anya corrects her more diplomatically. "Okay, you can stop now, sweetie. Nobody believes you're actually forgetting her real name."

"Aw come on," Bad Willow whines to her, "I still have thirty-nine presidents I haven't used!"

"Willow, please…"

"At least don't stop me till I use 'Bush'! Tell me that wouldn't work on a hundred different levels!"

"_Sorceress_, I'm asking you for a favor…"

Bad Willow rolls her eyes. "Fine! Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, her name's Kennedy!" She reaches out again. "Come on, _Kennedy!_ Keep me company while our girls talk."

When Kennedy just stares at the offered hand, Anya says, "I promise she won't hurt you and you'll be back with your own Willow very soon."

Kennedy looks at her, then turns to me. "Do you trust them?"

"I trust Anya," I say. "If she says we'll be all right, I believe it." I look pointedly at my twin. "_She_ hasn't lied to us."

"Not yet…" Kennedy mutters, then she crosses her arms and walks past Bad Willow on her way to the refreshment table. Bad Willow shrugs, gives Anya a quick peck on the cheek and turns to follow.

Anya watches them go and turns back to me. She holds out her hand again. "Let's go someplace private."

I take the hand and find myself transported away. We're standing on some sort of terrace now, one that looks like it was part of some ancient castle. Anya leads me toward one of the large open windows. "I tried to escape the first night I spent here," Anya says. "When Willow caught me she said she was going to prove to me how futile any escape would be. This was the first place she brought me." She points out the window. "See? You can see all of this universe's Sunnydale from here. There's nothing but witches there. And this building sits on the entire campus of what used to be UC Sunnydale. It's actually pretty remarkable when you look at it from an objective standpoint…"

I turn to her. "Anya, please! It doesn't have to be this way! Do you really want to see all this happen in our world?" My voice drops to a whisper. "You have power now, _real_ power! You can help us! Fight her, _please_!"

Anya looks into my eyes for a second, then she turns and takes a few steps away. "Do you remember how we first met?"

I sigh and rub my eyes. "Of course I do, Anya…"

She turns to me. "I mean _really_. Do you remember how we first met?"

I shake my head. "You wanted me to help you get your lost amulet back."

She smiles. "Do you remember the spell we used?"

I can't help but wonder why she wants to talk about this, but if it will get her to just let me go back with the others… "I remember you told me that it was a spell for finding lost things…which, by the way, it wasn't."

Anya pouts. "Was too. It just wasn't a spell for finding _ordinary _lost things."

"I also remember that it didn't work."

"It was working fine until _you_ got scared and broke contact."

"Anya, it conjured up Vampire Me!"

"Which it wouldn't have done if you hadn't broken contact. Vampire You came from the same place my amulet was. All the spell needed was a few more seconds to locate it, but since it didn't have those seconds it brought back the closest thing."

I frown. "I guess your new wiccan powers make you an expert."

She shakes her head. "I never needed powers to know how that spell worked. That's why I chose it. Anybody can do it."

"Okay, fine…so it's my fault that you never got your amulet and your life was ruined! I'm sorry, but I don't see what any of it has to do with…"

"It wasn't just my life," she says.

"What does that mean?"

"Do you know what I would have done if I had gotten the amulet back?"

"Probably what you did when you originally had it. You'd grant some insane wish for somebody…"

"Exactly," she says with a smile. "You."

This isn't the first time Anya has left me speechless, but it's a doozy. I stand there staring at her as I come to grips with that idea.

"Of course, I wouldn't expect an insane wish from you," she continues. "You were always a simple kind of girl, Willow. The magic got in the way of that eventually, but back then…I was expecting you to be skeptical. You wouldn't have wished for something big and stupid like World Peace, because I think you would have considered that impossible, but you wouldn't have had a problem wishing for something small…"

"Why _me?_" I blurt out when I finally find my voice.

Anya shrugs. "You were scorned. Not by any man, I know, but you were scorned by your friends in a way, and even though vengeance on friends wasn't technically my job, I was thinking that if you helped me get my amulet back I'd flex my muscles by giving you a freebie." With that she comes closer to me. "Do you know what you would have wished for?"

"I have no idea," I breathe. "Do _you_ know?"

Anya smiles again. "I didn't know, but I can tell you what I expected you to wish for then. You were worried that you were becoming too predictable, too reliable, and I think that as soon as you realized what kind of demon I was and came to grips with having that wish, you would have wished that you could do one thing that your friends would never expect of you."

"And what would have happened?" I say, remembering that Vengeance Demons were the personification of the phrase "Be careful what you wish for."

Anya smiles wider. "I would have turned your ambition knob up just a wee bit."

When she doesn't say anything else, I say, "And?!"

Anya chuckles, then glances toward the window we were standing at before.

I look that way in utter shock. "You're kidding."

"I doubt it would have happened just this way," Anya says. "You probably wouldn't have come up with a silly name like Willowcoven, or been so geeky with the logo, but really, wouldn't their Willow taking over every universe within reach, starting with your own, be the _last_ thing your friends would ever have expected of you?" I turn back to her, still shocked. "That's why I sought you out, Willow. I could have gotten anybody to help me with the spell, but that day, even without my powers, I sensed in you the potential for the greatest masterpiece of a wish I could have ever inflicted on reality. Imagine that. All I would have had to do is grant you one, simple wish." She looks at me forlornly for a second, as if dreaming about what might have been, then she sighs. "But I never got that amulet back, and I never granted you that wish, so, here we are."

"That's probably a good thing…" I say softly.

"Maybe it is," Anya says, "and maybe if you had been ruling the world from the time we met you might not have tried to incinerate it grieving for Tara." I want to respond to that, but Anya stops me with a raised hand. "I'm sorry! That was uncalled for. I didn't bring you up here to fight you."

"Then why? Why are you doing any of this?? Why marry her? Is it because she reminds you of something you wanted from me but couldn't get??"

"It's like I said. I'm tired of fighting _Willow_. It seems like I've been doing it since I became human, and I'm just done with it. She wants me to be with her, and it seems like deep down _you've_ never had any real use for me, so I'm simply doing what will make everybody happy. I'll be her queen, and you'll never have to see me again."

"Anya, it's not like that…"

"You don't have to try to convince me otherwise, Willow. I didn't bring you here for that either. What I really wanted to talk to you about was the day we met. I realize now that I never thanked you."

"For ruining the spell?"

"For helping me at all. You could have said 'no', but you didn't. In fact, in spite of our relationship you've helped me a lot since then and I don't think I've ever properly thanked you, so I wanted to do that today, before we went our separate ways for good. Thank you, Willow, for everything."

With that she moves intimately close, and before I can stop her she's kissing me. I'm so shocked by the action it takes some time before I think to try to stop her, and by then I realize that it's not as…icky as it seemed when I saw her kissing Bad Willow, so instead of pulling away I let her get close enough for each of us to wrap an arm around the other. While we embrace Anya puts the palm of her free hand over my heart. There's a hot sensation coming from her fingertips, then I feel a tingling around my neck and on my chest. It isn't until Anya and I finally break the kiss that I realize what just happened, and then I don't have time to really think about it, because just at that moment I hear my voice say, "I knew it."

Anya and I turn to my right. Bad Willow and Kennedy are standing a few feet away. Kennedy looks mad enough to eat nails, but Bad Willow, surprisingly, has a smile on her face. "Deny it all you want, Girl Scout," she says, "but you always wanted her. I told you. And you, Anya, you minx. Still trying to decide between us, or are you hoping to be the meat in a Willow sandwich?"

Anya offers me one last smile before she turns away and walks toward her mate. "Don't be crude, dear," she says. "That wasn't what you think."

"Then what was it?!" Kennedy demands of her.

"Gratitude," Anya says to her, "and Farewell." She takes the hand of her Willow and they start to walk away, but before they get far Anya raises her free hand and snaps her fingers. A second later Kennedy and I are back with the others.

"What happened to you?" Buffy says as they all rush over. "When you two didn't come back, we thought…"

"Anya wanted to talk to me some more…" I say softly, still not entirely sure what just happened. I touch my chest through the fabric of my dress.

"You mean she wanted to steal you!" Kennedy hisses.

"What?" Xander says. "What do you mean 'steal'?"

"Well, apparently, one Willow wasn't enough for 'The Mistress', so while her new spouse distracted me she tried to go for _two_!"

"Okay, ewww!" Dawn says.

I shake my head. "Ken, it wasn't like that…"

"Oh, I _know_, Will," she says. "That was 'gratitude' and 'farewell'…the _skank_! And by the way, you and I are through!"

"Kennedy, please…"

"Don't 'please' me! I saw the way you were all over her, trying to suck her face off the way the other one did at the wedding! You're no better than she is…"

That's the last straw! "_Shut UP, Kennedy!"_

I'm so used to having her chattering in my ear that it comes as a real surprise when she actually does shut up, and I'm not sure whether I like it or not. I feel guilty, but I force myself not to go to her as she turns away and starts to cry.

Buffy gets close to me. "Um, Will, maybe you'd better tell us what really happened."

"That's just it," I say as I touch my chest again. "I'm not sure, but I think Anya was trying to tell me something _without_ telling me something."

"Do you know what it is?"

"I think I do" - I look around our jail - "but I can't explain it now. We have to wait."

* * *

Hours later, everyone but me is back in their own clothes and fast asleep when some servant witches sneak in to collect our dinner dishes. A warrior accompanies them to watch us as the servants work. I simply wave at her, letting her know that we won't cause any trouble. They're gone again in a few minutes, and I wait a few more to be sure they're done for the day, then I wake the others. When everyone is alert I sit on the circular couch. "Everyone get close to me," I say, "close enough to touch. If you can't touch me, touch someone who can. I don't know if this will work, or how it will work, so I don't want to leave anyone behind." 

"What's going on?" Faith says.

"Maybe nothing," I say as I reach into the collar of my dress. I wasn't imagining it. There's a chain around my neck. When I pull it out I can see that the charm attached to it is like the ones the witches wear, a tree-and-pentagram pendant. "Maybe everything. Everybody ready?"

"We're ready," Buffy says.

I nod, then close my fist around the pendant. _One simple wish_, Anya said. Okay… "I wish we were in the real Hyperion."

In an instant, the bright colors and clean surroundings of the false lobby we're in give way to the dust and decay of the lobby of the Hyperion Hotel Angel and his people abandoned years ago.

Giles speaks first. "Bloody Hell!"

Everyone spreads out and looks around. "Holy shit, it's real!!" Dawn calls out. "It's _real_!!"

"Try something else!" Xander says to me.

I nod and grab the pendant again. "I wish I had my powers back." I wait for a minute, then… "Nothing. I guess I only get one wish."

"It doesn't matter!" Faith says. She's gone over to the large cabinet with all the melee weapons inside. Buffy and Kennedy run over as she opens it and they grab what they can. The men follow suit.

"What do we do now?" Dawn says.

"There's a way into the sewers from here," Faith says. "We'll use them to get out of Los Angeles."

"The front door's right there!" Kennedy says, incredulous.

"Right," Faith says, "and when Wiccan Me and Insane Willow find out where we went, there'll be whole bunches of uber-witches right outside it!"

"She's right," Buffy says. "We go underground and stay underground. We'll try to get in touch with any slayers they haven't gotten to yet."

"Not much of a plan," Xander says.

"No better one," Robin says.

"Maybe there is," I say. When everyone turns to me: "Before we leave let's try to find any mystical things here that we can use."

Buffy and Faith nod in agreement, then Faith leads the way out of the lobby. Before I follow I take off the pendant and toss it in the dust.

_Thank you, Anya_, I think, then I head off after the others.


	4. Strange bedfellows

**DISCLAIMER: **_Buffy-The Vampire Slayer and all related characters are the property of Mutant Enemy Productions, Inc., Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises and Twentieth Century-Fox Television. No copyright infringement is intended. This work of fiction is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. The story and all original characters are the sole property of the author and may not be used or archived without permission._

**RAISING ANYA,**

**FACING WILLOW**

**By Darrin Colbourne**

* * *

**Anya**

"Now _that_ was heaven," I whisper with a grin.

Willow shifts a little in our embrace, bringing our bodies that much closer together under the sheets. "You're not just saying that?"

I shake my head. "I can't remember when I've had a more pleasurable experience." You might think I'm flattering her, but I mean every word. No matter what her real feelings for me are, there was nothing selfish about her lovemaking. Willow spent our wedding night kissing me, caressing me, reminding me of all the best things about being alive, but most of all she made me feel _wanted,_ in a way no one in my previous lives ever made me feel, not Olaf, not D'Hoffryn, not even Xander. It was a sensation as profound as it was erotic.

"Wellll," Willow says as she strokes my hair, "just to give the dead horse one more whack, if you'd been just a leetle more cooperative last time you were here, you would have had that experience that much sooner."

I sigh. "Is this what our marriage is going to be like? You're going to spend the rest of eternity guilt-tripping me for what happened last time?"

She looks away for a moment, then turns back to me with a mischievous smile. "Not _all_ of eternity. Maybe the next couple thousand years, give or take…"

"Give or take, huh? Well, give or take _this_!" I find a particularly soft bit of flesh on her and give it a good pinch.

"Ow! Bitch!" She retaliates with a mean little slap on my fanny that makes me gasp.

"You shouldn't have done that…" I say.

"Oh yeah?" Willow says. "What're you gonna do about it?"

"Just this." This time I find a very _sensitive_ bit of flesh and give it just the right pinch. I grin in triumph as she moans like a whore and wriggles in my grasp.

"Where the hell did you learn _that_?" She says as she recovers.

"You pick up a bunch of things when you live a millennium or so," I say, "although I never had an opportunity to try that on someone else until now."

"What else do you know?"

"Well, for one thing, now that I have Amy's powers I think I finally figured out that autograph trick of yours." I trace a few lazy circles in the contour sheet with my finger. "I think maybe I'll write you a love letter today." We kiss. "A very, _very_ long love letter."

"Oooh, then I'll write you a _book_," she says. I giggle at that, then we get serious about the kissing. Unfortunately, we don't have a chance to take it any further, because we're soon interrupted by the sound of someone clearing her throat in that loud, annoying way that says "What I have to say is more important than your life."

Willow and I break and look toward the foot of the bed. Faith is standing there looking like she ate an orchard full of lemons. I honestly don't care why. "I thought you said no one could come into my suite unless I wanted them to," I say to Willow.

"Well, she's not really here, dear," Willow says, "it's just a projection. Faith can use it to communicate with me anywhere if it's an emergency." We sit up then, keeping ourselves covered with the sheets, then Willow looks pointedly at Faith. "This _is_ an emergency, right?" The tone suggests really bad news for Faithy if it isn't.

Faith glances at me before answering. "I don't know, Boss. Would you consider Anya's friends escaping an emergency?"

Willow lowers her head in frustration while I glare at Faith. "You were supposed to be watching them!" I say.

Now Faith glares at me. "Oh, I had my best women watching them, _Mistress_. You wanna see what they saw?" She takes a step to the left and uses her hand to conjure an image of the hotel-lobby prison she created for the Scoobies. The camera or whatever is being used to look in is looking down from a corner of the ceiling. Most of the gang is asleep, but Good Willow is loitering and watching while a Novitiate gathers their dinner plates and a Warrior stands guard. When they leave, Good Willow gets the others up and makes them gather around her. When they do, they block her from view.

"What's going on?" Good Faith says in the background.

"Maybe nothing," Good Willow says, "maybe everything. Everybody ready?"

"We're ready." Buffy says.

There's a pause, then Willow says, "I wish we were in the real Hyperion." A second later, the whole bunch of them disappears.

Faith dissolves the image and crosses her arms as she returns to where she was standing. I smirk at her as I respond. "Smooth, Faith. Way to keep prisoners in custody. Might I suggest an actual _jail_ next time?"

Faith lowers her arms and looks ready to kill me. "The only reason I kept them there was because Willow said you'd…!"

Willow stops her with a raised hand, then rubs her eyes, then looks at me. "Anya, please let me handle this." She turns to Faith. "Okay, I know I left her without any kind of magic of her own, and I presume there was nothing in their cell that she could have used to work a teleportation spell, right?"

"Right," Faith says, "but we know it wasn't a spell. You heard your twin. It was a wish."

"Okay, well, Faith, you're in their universe right now, and there are still Vengeance Demons and other djinn of various types there. Maybe one of them infiltrated your security…"

"_Nothing_ got past my security, Will."

"Then how could anybody have granted her a wish?"

Faith turns back to me. "Why don't you ask the missus?"

I shake my head. "Don't look at me! My Vengeance Demon days were a lifetime ago…literally!"

"You wouldn't have to be a Vengeance Demon. You could have given Willow a Novitiate pendant. They grant the wearer one wish a day."

"And you think I gave the other Willow one of those?"

"I checked. None of the ones in stock have been removed and there are only two people in this entire coven that can conjure new ones from scratch, and I'm betting Willow didn't do it."

That makes Willow look at me, but I stand my ground. "Okay, Miss Marple, let's settle this. You can track Novitiate pendants from your ship, right?"

"Of course," Faith says.

"Well, then, if Old Willow's wearing one you should have caught her by now. Why haven't you?"

Faith frowns at that and looks away. "We think she might have ditched it at the Hyperion."

"Why would she do that if she knew it would grant her a wish a day?"

"Maybe you didn't tell her that when you gave it to her!"

"Okay, well, I assume you searched the Hyperion in that universe?"

"Of course we did!"

"Then where's the pendant?"

Another frown, this time as she stares daggers at me. "We couldn't find it."

"Really? Well, let's try this: Let's stop looking for imaginary pendants and try to find the real, live Slayers and their friends!"

"Anya!" Willow says. I shut up and turn away and let her resume the questioning. "Look, there had to be some kind of wishing demon in there with them, Faith. What happened in the minutes before what we just saw?"

"We don't know," Faith says. "There's been some kind of interference in the scrying net since you two started your honeymoon. It comes and goes. That's why we had to send the guard in with the novitiate. We couldn't be sure when it would go out again."

"I suppose you'll blame me for your technical difficulties too…" I mutter.

"You could have done it telepathically…" Faith says to me.

"Faith, any of us could have done that telepathically!" Willow says. "Look, forget how they got out. What are you doing to find them?"

"It's problematic. Without their powers they're just a bunch of normals in a city full of them. The only way to do it is to put more boots on the ground, and…"

When she doesn't finish I turn to her. "And? Go on, say it!"

She grits her teeth. "_And_ we don't have the boots to spare right now."

I nod. "Okay, hands up everyone who saw that coming!" I raise my hand immediately.

Willow clasps it gently by the wrist and lowers it, then asks Faith, "I thought you were sending for reinforcements?"

"Well, Sorceress, as you know most of our ready reserve is committed right now…"

"You have an army of 300 million witches!" I whine.

"And most of them are needed right where they are!" Faith shoots back. "That's why we keep a ready reserve!"

"Enough!!" Willow says. "Anya, it's _your_ job to find the warriors Faith will need. Do it. Faith, I'll come there and help you narrow down the search with the resources you have."

"Yes, Sorceress," Faith and I say in unison, then Faith's image disappears.

Willow looks at the empty air for a while, sighs, and then gets out of bed. She takes a moment to conjure some athletic clothes to wear and magically freshens up. "Will you be okay here?"

I smile. "Of course I will. You go on."

"Sucky honeymoon, huh?"

"You're only doing what I asked of you. I don't mind. Go on."

She smiles at that, then starts to leave my bedroom. She stops halfway to the door and turns back to me. "Anya, are you sure you didn't…?"

I flash her a big smile. "Sweetie, if I had done something like that, wouldn't you know about it?"

She stares at me for a long time, then smiles back. "I guess I would." With that she turns and leaves.

I wait until I'm sure she's gone from my suite before I get out of bed. I walk over to the make-up table and pick up the little music box sitting there. After sending a mental command into the multiverse I open the box. As _The Nutcracker Suite_ plays I reach into it and pull out the Novitiate pendant I'd given to Good Willow. I'd programmed it to teleport into a private little limbo if she ever took it off, and I'm glad she was smart enough to do that. Now that I've retrieved it, I absorb it back into my own body. Now no one will ever find it.

_Maybe you wouldn't know, sweetie_, I think as I put the box back. After that I do a little magical cleaning and dressing of my own. This time I pick a black blouse to go with my black skirt, just to be different. After a quick check in the mirror, I head off to do my job, just like the Sorceress told me to.

_Where will I find the troops?_ I think. I grin because I already know the answer.

* * *

I'm not really in a hurry, so I take a little unguided tour of Willowcoven before I get to work. For the most part I avoid places Willow dragged me to the last time I was here - which isn't hard. I think the place has gotten _bigger_ since then - but there are two rooms I simply have to see. One is the big red room that Cordelia Chase was imprisoned in. That room has been completely abandoned and the glass cage Cordelia was in is smashed. Cordelia herself is gone. The chains that held her look as if they were ripped apart with someone's bare hands. I keep that in mind as I make Willow's Office my next stop. I go directly to the little display case by the couch. The bust that Tara got turned into is nowhere to be found. When I see that I decide it's time to get to work, so I walk over to the portal disk and think _Dawn_.

I end up in another of Willowcoven's large rooms, a dark one filled with Warrior and Administrator witches. The only real illumination comes from massive TV screens that show maps of California, The United States and the World, smaller screens with satellite images of battles being waged and a really big table in the center that shows a relief map of Sunnydale. This is the War Room, Willowcoven's command and control center for directing battles in this universe. It kind of reminds me of the control room in the ship, though the warrior witches here are dressed in the more familiar pantsuits.

I go over to the map table and find Dawn there with three warriors. Dawn is in a suit, too, and she's giving orders to the other witches as she points to spots in Sunnydale. She stops when she spots me. "Anya! Hi!" She says with a smile. "It's good to see you!"

She must have learned how to hide her true feelings from Faith. She's actually better at it, but as with Faith I simply take the sentiment at face value. "Thank you, Dawnie," I say with a smile. "I was wondering why I didn't see you at the wedding."

Her face falls a little. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I've been kind of busy here."

"Don't tell me there's trouble in paradise?" I say, though the activity in the room makes that pretty obvious.

Dawn frowns and looks at one of the battle scenes. "Unfortunately, there is."

"Let me guess: Tara?"

"Tara." She hisses the name through her teeth. "I didn't really have to face her myself the last time she rebelled against us. Now it's my job to deal with her once and for all."

"Why?"

Dawn glances at me, then bows her head. "Willow blames me for letting her escape."

"Hmmm…does she also blame you for losing Cordelia?"

"That _wasn't_ my fault! Tara freed her when she got freed! Her and Catherine…"

"Who?"

"The Vampire Slayer."

"I thought there were no more Vampire Slayers in this universe."

"It's a long story."

I shrug. "I've got time." I listen attentively as she relates the story about the night Catherine came to Willowcoven and helped free Tara and Cordelia. I'm especially intrigued by the details of Catherine's origins as Dawn understands them. When she's done I turn and look at the map and battle screens. "So, the three of them are the cause of all this?" The maps are filled with conflict indicators, and the monitors are showing intense mystical combat.

"Not by themselves," Dawn says. "In the past year or so Tara has managed to organize and empower an insurgency. Most of her witches are simply malcontent women who aren't happy with the way things are being run, but way too many of them are defectors from our own ranks."

"It looks like they're all over the world. How could Tara have created such a widespread rebellion so quickly?"

"We suspect she has some limited control over time and space…"

"Like Willow?"

"No." She glances at me. "More like you. When did you…?"

"Part of the dowry. So, you have to put down a worldwide rebellion. No wonder you're using up so much of the ready reserve."

"I've had to draw on it more and more as the battle escalates. I didn't think Faith would need to take all that many witches to your universe just to resurrect you."

"Plans have changed. I don't suppose you could spare a brigade or three?"

She points at the screens. "Does it _look_ like I can spare them?"

I sigh as I watch the battles. "Well, is there anything I can do to help you speed up your campaign?"

"You can tell me what Tara's thinking right now, or at least where she is."

"You can't track her telepathically?"

"She's too good at blocking our scans."

"Well, surely with all those witches deployed somebody must have spotted her."

"She's been spotted plenty of times, but she never stays in one place long enough for us to get forces there to capture or kill her. She creates an insurgent cell, gets it into battle and disappears. What I really want to know is where she disappears to. We can't find her headquarters."

"And why an insurgency? If she can get together that big an army so quickly why not just get it all together and come after Willowcoven?"

"Maybe because she already tried that and failed? Maybe she feels she doesn't have enough witches to do it this time? I don't know. That's why I want to know what she's thinking."

"Okay…well, I can't tell you what she's thinking, and I have no idea where she is right now…but, I might be able to tell you where I think she's going to be."

Dawn's eyebrows go up as she turns to look at me. I smile as I relate my "theory" to her. It's just enough to get her to do what I want with her forces.


	5. Cost

**DISCLAIMER: **_Buffy-The Vampire Slayer and all related characters are the property of Mutant Enemy Productions, Inc., Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises and Twentieth Century-Fox Television. No copyright infringement is intended. This work of fiction is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. The story and all original characters are the sole property of the author and may not be used or archived without permission._

**RAISING ANYA,**

**FACING WILLOW**

**By Darrin Colbourne**

* * *

**Willow**

We spend hours traveling Los Angeles's underground, trying our best to blend in with the rest of the population, using every trick we know to mask our thoughts from telepathic probing. There we have some help. One of the things I found before we left the Hyperion was a root that - well, the only way I can describe it is that it jams telepathy when it burns. I've been carrying it like a candle all the way. It feels warm and reassuring in my hands.

We make our way to an unused warehouse on the edge of the city. Faith breaks into it and we take shelter there. There's no way it will keep us safe from detection for very long, but if what I'm planning works, it may not have to.

The others stand guard as I set up the other things I took from the hotel. I managed to find the right spice in a dusty bottle. Angel Investigations probably never found a use for it, luckily for us. I sit on the floor and lay it out in front of me, along with a plate and some matches.

_Do you remember the spell we used?_ Anya asked me. I remember, all right, although it seems like ages since I've actually had to think about it. Now that I need it, the spell shines like a beacon in my conscious mind. Anya was right. It's a spell anybody can do. I don't need my powers to make it work…but I do need a partner. When I have everything ready, I call out, "Ken? I need you."

Kennedy takes a half-second to glare at me before she comes over. She continues to stand as she says, "What good will this do?"

"If we do it right," I say, "it may bring us help."

She glares again. "Something else Anya said?"

"Yes, in a way Anya taught it to me."

She still looks reluctant, but after a few seconds she puts down the sword she's carrying and starts to sit next to me before I tell her we need to be facing each other across the plate. When she's settled in she says, "What kind of help will this get us?"

"Hopefully the friendly kind," I say.

"Define 'friendly'."

"Tara 'friendly'."

"Great…another dead girlfriend…"

"It won't be _her_, Kennedy. I couldn't bring her back using this stuff."

"Then who?"

"I'm going to try to bring the Tara from my twin's universe here."

"Oh, that makes sense…because _everybody_ from that universe seems so nice and helpful!"

"She might actually be. She's Bad Willow's enemy, and from what Anya told us about her she might be the Sorceress's equal in power."

"Oh…well, okay fine, so we just bring her here and point her at your evil twin and stand back, right?"

"Um, maybe not. See, also according to Anya, she's a statue."

"A statue??"

"Well, a bust, really…head and shoulders…"

"Willow!"

"Look, I'm working with what I got here! We'll just have to take it one step at a time. We'll get her here, then find a way to un-statufy her and _then_ we'll point her at my evil twin, but first we gotta get her here, okay?"

"Okay, okay! Let's just do it!"

"Okay, but just one more thing: no matter what you see in your mind's eye, don't disrupt the spell. Just hold on."

"Why not?"

"Remember Vampire Me?" She nods. "She showed up because I disrupted the spell, and we already have enough problems right now."

"Got it."

We start the spell, clasping hands across the plate as the spice burns. As I chant the right words I smile inwardly at the thought that it's nice to have Kennedy's hands in mine. Just as I let myself get comfortable in that feeling the images begin. Flashes of my doppelganger's universe go through my mind, images horrific, violent and sensual, and I can feel Kennedy's grip tighten and hear her start to breathe in through her teeth as the images speed up and get more intense until they're almost unbearable! Still, we hold on, gritting our teeth and waiting for the spell to find the thing I want it to find!

Suddenly the images stop! Kennedy and I collapse from exhaustion. The spice has burned up completely, but nothing happened. The bust of Tara should be sitting between us.

"Um, Will?" Buffy says.

I turn in her direction. She and the others are looking further into the shadows of the warehouse. Kennedy and I stand and look the same way. Someone is coming toward us out of the darkness. I start walking toward her when I recognize her shape, and I'm almost giddy when I see her clearly: the long blonde hair, the big blue eyes, the full lips and full body dressed in a white silk top and loose-fitting pants.

We stop when we're a couple of yards away from each other. "Oh my goddess," I say with a smile, "It's you. I mean, _really_ you. You're not a statue."

Tara takes a look around the warehouse, then her gaze falls on me, and her eyes narrow as she says, "No, I'm Not."

Then she's a _blur_, and the next thing I know she has a deathgrip on my neck and she's got me off the ground! My toes dangle and I gasp for air as her fingers tighten around my throat, and as I look down at her wide-eyed her eyes go black as night and she grins as she balls her free hand into a fist.

"Sucks For You," she growls as her fist is engulfed with black fire.

"Yep," Kennedy says, "nice and _helpful!_" Then she runs over and tries to attack Tara. Tara literally swats her away as if she were a fly. Kennedy bounces off the far wall before rolling to a stop on the dusty floor. Buffy and Faith ignore the obvious stupidity of attacking Tara head on and follow Kennedy's lead. Tara uses them to go bowling, knocking down the others by throwing the girls into them.

Tara takes a second to admire her handiwork, then turns back to me. "Playtime's Over." Her flame-engulfed fist draws back, and I close my eyes and wait for my death…

…and then a voice I never thought I'd hear again in my life calls out, "NO!"

_It can't be!_ I think, but I risk opening my eyes to make sure. It _is_ her, coming out of the shadows. Tara looks back as she trots over and puts a hand on the killing arm.

Being choked as I am, I don't have the breath to say her name out loud, so Xander beats me to it. "Cordelia??!"

Cordelia glances at him, then turns to whisper in Tara's ear. "Don't do this. It's not her. You _know_ it's not her. If I can sense it, I know you can."

Tara thinks about it, then looks up at me. "Doesn't Matter."

Cordelia tightens the grip on the other arm. "Yes it _does_! You _know_ it does! Please, don't do this!"

Tara takes one more look at her, then one at me, then she just lets go. I land hard on my ass as I cough and sputter trying to get my breath back. When I can look up again Tara has turned away. "I'm Watching You," she says as she starts back for the shadows.

Cordelia glances at her, then turns to me and kneels to help me up. "Hey there," she says with a smile. "It's okay. She's not gonna hurt you."

When I'm on my feet I take a good look at her face. "Cordelia? Cordelia _Chase_?" I rasp.

"Oh, I know that look," she says. "That's the look that means the Cordelia Chase of this reality is" - she makes a slashing motion across her throat - "_kkkkk_, right?" I nod dumbly. She sighs and says, "Well, I guess that means I'll just have to be twice as beautiful to make up the difference."

She grins, and with my breath back the first thing I do is laugh, and then we hug. "I don't believe it!" I say. "I mean, I know you're not her, but still…"

Cordelia pats me on the back. "I know what you mean," she says in a normal voice, then she whispers, "_she_ used to have the same kindness in her eyes that I see in yours. I miss that so much."

We pull back until we're only holding hands, and I'm stuck for a response because I don't know if she means Tara or Bad Willow. I don't get a chance to ask as Buffy and the others, recovered from their fall, gather around us. Cordelia smiles as everyone comes to greet her. "You look great!" Xander enthuses.

"Oh, this old thing?" Cordy says. "I just threw it on!"

"Nice aim." Andrew says. Dawn gives him an elbow to the ribs for saying it, but I don't blame him. Cordelia is wearing an ensemble reminiscent of a Bond Girl; hot pants, halter and high-heeled boots, with a belt holding the leather sheathes to two really big daggers. Everything is white, contrasting her long, jet black hair. The color of her clothes is probably a show of loyalty to Tara.

That reminds me. As everyone else talks to Cordy I look for Tara. She's standing away from the group, looking around some more at the warehouse. When she sees a spot in the empty air that catches her interest she raises a hand and snaps her fingers. I have to look away when a bolt of lightning strikes in front of her. When I turn back another dark-haired figure is rising up from a crouch. She's shorter than Tara when she reaches her full height, and she's wearing loose-fit jeans, a sport jersey and hiking boots, all white. She's also got two very long samurai swords strapped to her back. She glances at Tara, then checks out the room. When she turns to face the group we get the biggest surprise of the week.

"_Buffy??!"_

Everyone but our Buffy, Cordelia and Tara said it. Hearing it just makes our new visitor look frustrated. She huffs and turns to Tara. "I'm going to _hate _it here, aren't I?"

"I guess some introductions are in order," Cordelia says, "but first we need to get someplace safe - and clean. Tara?"

Tara comes over to us and locks her gaze on Giles. "Think Of Home," she says, and a second later her eyes glow. The light fills the warehouse and blinds all of us. When it dissipates we're back in the castle in London, standing around the library as if Bad Willow had never taken us out of it.

"We're back," Giles says.

"Not exactly," Cordelia says. "you might want to find a window."

Giles rushes out of the room with all of us following him. He heads to the nearest room with a window and looks out. We crowd around him and try to get a look for ourselves. I'm stunned when I look down and see _clouds_. "Where are we?" I say.

"Mount Olympus," Cordy says. "Tara moved the castle here."

"She moved _the entire castle_ here?" Robin says.

Cordy shrugs. "She likes Mount Olympus. So…who wants _Story Time_?"

* * *

We go back to the library and sit around listening intently as Cordelia begins Story Time with the tale of how Bad Willow and Tara met. I have mixed feelings as I hear it. It's exactly how my Tara and I met; the encounter at Wicca Group, our collision when she was running from the Gentlemen, our last stand in the laundry room. The similarities end in the few seconds after we barricaded the door with vending machine. In that universe, that moment of contact allowed Tara to see into the future and glimpse the universe her Willow would create. That night the knowledge would cause her to flee Sunnydale, but she returned years later with a Wiccan army of her own to try to stop Willow before she could solidify her reign in that reality and begin her conquest of others. Obviously she didn't succeed, but she came closer than anyone else did while Willow was gaining power, and only the intervention of the Sorceress's allies brought Tara down.

The next story is about Buffy's raven-haired twin, whom we learned is named Catherine. She's apparently a kind of Frankenstein's Slayer, created by twins of women, good and evil, that we've encountered since Buffy came to Sunnydale. She's a living mannequin, crafted with Buffy's looks and programmed with her mannerisms, empowered by ancient magic and brought to life with - ironically - a fragment of the soul of Dawn's evil twin. Her creators hid her in the midst of Coven society and trained and educated her in secret, preparing her for the day when she might face the ultimate Big Bad.

Cordy saves the best story - hers, naturally - for last, telling us that, contrary to what we might have heard, she was no mere Mata Hari. She and Bad Willow actually shared a brief, passionate, whirlwind affair just before the Sorceress took her first step to godhood. She assures us that Willow was capable of being a truly loving person at one point her past, and who better to understand that than the recipient of that love? Cordy is nostalgic as she muses over that short week in her life, and sounds genuinely regretful as she confides to us that _she_ might be the Mistress right now if she hadn't made the teeny-tiny mistake of trying to stab Willow to death the first night they made love. (Apparently, it was a very _complex_ relationship.)

She ties all the stories together into the one about the night she and Tara were freed from their respective prisons. Catherine and her creators had snuck into Willowcoven and made their way to Willow's office, not once but twice, in an attempt to return Tara to normal. Along the way Catherine's creators made the ultimate sacrifice, and the Slayer herself was almost beaten to death by Evil Dawn, but they succeeded, and together Catherine and Tara rescued Cordy. Tara shattered the cage with her voice, then Catherine tore Cordy's bonds apart as Tara protected them from the hordes of witches Dawn sent to destroy them. Then they escaped and hid in Mount Olympus the same way Tara hid us in this universe, and the very next day the three of them began a new rebellion against their oppressor.

She pauses a beat when her tales her are told, waiting for applause I assume. Xander and Andrew happily oblige and Cordy grins and bows, glad to have given such a wonderful performance. It _was_ a dramatic reading, and it was full of sex and violence and girl fights, so I'm not surprised that it entertained the boys.

Others aren't as easily impressed. "So, let me get this straight," Kennedy says. "What you're really saying is the last time you all went up against Willow, you ended up in a glass cage," - Cordy nods - "and Super Tara got turned into a statue," - Cordy nods again - "and Dark Buffy over there got all her friends killed _and_ got her ass kicked by the Real Slayer's little sister?" This time Cordy and Catherine glare at her, but she just turns to me and says, "And you brought them here to help _us_?"

Cordy answers her before I can. "Yes, she did," she says with a tolerant grin, "and the fact that she did is probably a pretty good indicator that you people aren't doing so hot yourselves, so _somebody_ might want to think twice before throwing stones."

Kennedy gets ready to get into a verbal sparring match, but Robin speaks up before she can say anything else. "How _did_ you get here?" He says to Cordy. When he has everyone's attention, he continues. "Willow brought _Tara_ here, and Tara brought your Slayer, but I don't understand how you got here."

Cordy lights up as she answers. "Oh! That's an extension of my power."

"Your 'power'?" Giles says. "You have a power?"

Cordy nods and puts her hands behind her back, then Giles's glasses disappear from his face. A second later Cordy walks over to him and hands them back. "I can teleport things anywhere I want. I sort of tricked one of Willow's witches into giving me the ability, then I used it to sneak the dagger into my hands when Willow and I were…you know. I didn't realize it at first, but I eventually found out that I could teleport myself anywhere as well." She turns to Robin. "I was with Tara when your Willow brought her here, so I thought of her and used my power to follow her. Actually, that was the first time I ever teleported across dimensions by myself. That was _so_ cool!"

Kennedy doesn't let her enjoy the moment. "So you can teleport across dimensions, but you couldn't get yourself out of a glass cage?"

Cordy frowns at her. "Is this your first day on the job, or were you always this deficient? I just said I didn't know I could teleport _myself_ at first, and by the time it occurred to me to try it I'd already been in the cage for a couple of weeks and, _Hello_, the Sorceress isn't _stupid_! Her bonds tied up my magic as completely as they tied up my body."

"Yes, well, be that as it may," Giles says as he puts his glasses back on, "it is an impressive ability, Cordelia. That said, even though she might have been a bit more tactful Kennedy raised a valid point. Tara has demonstrated vast power as well, and as a creation of the Maggie Walsh, Jenny Calendar and Gwendolyn Post of your universe, I'm confident that your Buff - forgive me - _Catherine_ is a formidable Slayer, but our most powerful witch and Slayers have already been defeated, the other Slayers in our universe are in the process of being defeated and, as you yourself so eloquently told us, each of you has already been defeated by the same enemy. I believe we'd all like some assurance that the outcome of the next clash between us and the Sorceress will be slightly more positive."

Cordy smiles at him. "You know as well as I do that no future is set in stone," she says, "and that even the predictions of the most gifted prophet can be questioned, so that's an assurance I can't give you. I can tell you that events are happening right now that might allow Catherine, Tara and me to defeat our Willow by attacking her together, something no one in our universe has ever had a chance to do. If you want our help, we'd be more than happy to make that last stand here…for a price."

"Price?" Buffy says. "What price?"

Catherine speaks up for the first time. "I don't know what you all were thinking when you brought Tara here, but she wasn't put in the universe just to be your ace-in-the-hole." She turns to Kennedy. "And, yeah, I sacrificed a lot going up against Willow. All three of us have, so it's only fair that if you expect us go up against her to defend _your_ universe, you should make a sacrifice of your own."

"How is that fair??" Xander says. "It's blackmail! You're supposed to be good guys, like us! You're supposed to help just because…it's what you do!"

"That a fact?" Catherine says. "Funny, I don't remember you 'good guys' going out of your way to help us last time you were in our dimension!"

"That was different," Buffy says. "We only wanted to get Anya back. We didn't know about Cordelia and Tara until Anya told us about them, and we didn't know anything about you at all!"

"Gwen used to tell me that ignorance isn't an excuse," Catherine says, "it's a sign of _weakness_. I think I finally get what she means."

Before Buffy can respond, Cordy says, "Just out of curiosity, once you knew about us, why didn't you come back and help us?"

"We couldn't," Buffy says, "not without sacrificing Dawn just to get back to your dimension."

Cordy nods. "I see. Well, don't worry, Buffy. It's not Dawn that we want."

Finally, I speak up, because I see where this is going. "It's me, isn't it?"

Everyone turns to me. Cordy smiles and starts toward me. "We think we know how to defeat your twin once and for all, but to make it stick we're going to need you to sacrifice yourself to us."

Kennedy steps in her path. "Y'know, I'm getting sick and tired of all you crazy alternate universe bitches trying to take my girlfriend away from me!"

Cordelia looks livid, but she forces a smile back on her face as she says, "Y'know what else I can do with my power? I can teleport your heart right into the palm of my hand. It would be bloody and it would be icky and it would still be beating, and you'd be able to watch it beat in the few seconds of life that you'd have left. Wanna see?" Kennedy clenches her fists as Cordelia raises her hand.

"_Cordelia!"_ The shout comes from Tara, who'd simply been watching all of us since the argument began. Now she keeps her gaze on Cordy. For a second it looks like Cordy might do it anyway, but she glances at Tara, then lowers her head and her hand. She doesn't look up again until she's composed herself, then she smiles and nods at Kennedy, then steps around her to get to me.

Kennedy wheels on her. "Is _everybody_ from your reality some kind of psychotic, super-powered diesel-dyke?!"

"Yes," Cordy says without turning, "I believe that's what our Willow was going for." She focuses on me. "We can keep her from doing it to your reality, but in return you _must_ give yourself to us."

"You _can't_ do this!" Buffy says. "There has to be something else you can take!"

"This isn't a negotiation," Catherine says to her. "That's the deal. We get your Willow or we walk, and you can deal with our Big Bad yourselves. It'll give us a chance to have a nice little vacation." She thinks for a minute, then turns to Cordy. "I'm thinking Maui."

"No!" Cordy whines. "Tahiti! We should go to Tahiti!"

They both turn to Tara. She just smirks, but it makes Cordy grin and Catherine shrug. "Guess I'm outvoted," Catherine says, then the three of them turn to Buffy.

The room is silent as Buffy alternates between glaring at them and glancing at me, and I can tell she's trying to decide if saving the universe is worth the cost of her best friend. Just when it looks like she'll say she can't decide, Faith speaks up. "Maybe I don't have the right to say anything, but we gotta face a couple of facts here: They all have powers. We don't. They all know the enemy better than we do. They've got a plan. _Our_ plan was to get Tara here and beg her for help. Like it or not, they have what we need…"

"…and it's a Seller's Market," Robin finishes. Faith offers him a quick smile, but it fades as everyone turns to look at me again.

"This isn't a decision we can make for you," Giles says.

"You don't have to, Will," Buffy says. "We'll find another way. We always do."

"If you say 'yes'," Catherine says, "you won't _need_ another way. We'll do the heavy-lifting."

No one else says anything until Kennedy catches my eye. "Psychotic, super-powered, diesel-dykes," she says. She glances at Cordy. "Emphasis on _psychotic_."

I smile at her, and seeing her makes the decision easy. I turn to Cordy. "What do you want me to do?"

Cordy smiles and turns to Tara, then Tara gets up and starts out of the room. "Follow Me," she says.

When I see she's not going to wait I get up and rush after her. I try not to notice that everyone's eyes follow me as I go. I don't know where Tara is taking me, but I'm hoping against hope there won't be an altar and a stiletto knife waiting for us.

That _would_ suck.


	6. War council

**DISCLAIMER: **_Buffy-The Vampire Slayer and all related characters are the property of Mutant Enemy Productions, Inc., Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises and Twentieth Century-Fox Television. No copyright infringement is intended. This work of fiction is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. The story and all original characters are the sole property of the author and may not be used or archived without permission._

**RAISING ANYA,**

**FACING WILLOW**

**By Darrin Colbourne**

* * *

**Anya**

I leave it to Dawn to arrange for the withdrawal and redeployment of Willowcoven's forces. She finds it frustrating to give up so much ground to Tara's insurgency, but I remind her that part of the benefit will most likely be the elimination of Tara herself, which makes it easier for her. By the end of the day her forces are gathered aboard more giant ships like the ones already in my home reality and the two of us are standing in the control room of one of them, waiting for Dawn to open a portal big enough for all of us to fly through. When she does, ours is the first ship to go in.

Our fleet joins up with one of the original ships, which is now hovering over Los Angeles. That's where Willow and Faith are. Once our ships are in position, it's just a simple matter of walking to the nearest portal disk and using it to transfer over. Again, I let Dawn lead the way. A moment later we're heading right for the map table in the other ship's control room. Willow and Faith are waiting for us. "What are you doing here, Dawn?" Faith asks.

"I brought you your extra troops," Dawn says, a little petulantly.

"I can see that," Willow says, "but you didn't have to come with them. You should have stayed in our reality so that you can keep on the hunt for Tara."

Dawn looks confused for a second, then she glances at me. "Didn't Anya tell you?"

"Didn't Anya tell us _what_?" Faith says.

"Tara's _here_…or, at least, she's going to be."

Willow and Faith stare at her for a second, then they turn to me. "And how would you know that?" Faith says.

I smile. "It's been a while since any of you has worked with the Good Guys," I say, "but for me it wasn't that long ago. I still remember how they think. The Willow from this reality is taking on her usual role as resident Miracle Worker. First she got them out of your jail. Her next trick will be to find something - or someone - that can defeat us."

"You think she'll try to bring Tara here," Willow says.

"It makes perfect sense. First, I told them everything you told me when I was with you the last time, including the things you told me about Tara, about how she almost defeated you in your battle for Sunnydale…"

"_Almost_ being the key word," Faith interjects.

I nod to her and continue. "Second, the last time _they_ were in your home dimension, Tara was instrumental in allowing Willow to wound you when you fought."

"True…" Willow says.

"Finally, there's the emotional factor. You were never in love with Tara, but the Tara of this universe was her Rock of Gibraltar, her reason for being. She would never try to bring that Tara back to life, but she knows about the other Tara, and if she could find a way, there's no doubt in my mind that she'd try to bring your Tara here."

"But she'd be expecting a bust, wouldn't she?" Willow says.

I nod. "If she's going by what I told her before."

"She's going to be in for a shock, then," Dawn says.

"They both are." Willow says. "Can you imagine what will happen when Tara gets popped into another dimension and finds out _Willow_ did it?" She chuckles. "She might take care of our biggest job for us."

Faith's not so sure. "What if she _doesn't_ take care of it? What if Good Willow manages to convince her that she should help them?"

"Does that idea frighten you, Faith?" I say.

"Only in that it means all of our biggest threats will be united against us."

"And they'll all most likely be in one spot when they take their stand, which means they'll be that much easier to destroy once _you_ get your act together."

Faith crosses her arms. "Fine, then all I need to know is where and when they'll take that stand."

I sigh. "Do I have to do _everything_ for you?" She glares at me then, but I just keep smiling and move to stand close to Willow.

"Look, Anya," Dawn says, "just knowing that she might be coming here isn't enough. We have to catch her before she goes to ground, or else we'll just be in the same situation as in our reality."

I shake my head. "No, you won't. Remember, there's still a Buffy in this reality."

"What has that got to do with it?"

"Everything. Buffy is impatient and Buffy is a control freak, and the last thing she'll want to do is sit around and wait for Tara to fight us her way, no matter how much sense that makes. Good Faith has similar qualities, and they've passed that impatience on to the other Slayers through osmosis. When they can't stand waiting anymore, they'll force Tara to take the initiative. Our enemies will come to us."

"They may _try_ to force Tara's hand," Faith says, "but we can't count on Tara cooperating. We have to at least attempt to destroy her as soon as she arrives."

"Then what we need to do first is figure out when she's coming," Willow says, "or if she's already here." She moves closer to the map table. "Let's assume she's already here and the Good Guys have convinced her to help. What would she do first?"

"She'd go to a safe place to plan and gather forces," Dawn says, "like when she escaped."

"But we never _found_ that safe place," Faith says. The accusatory tone makes Dawn glare at her.

"Right," Willow says, "but she didn't go there immediately. She went to a house in the LA suburbs first…"

Dawn's eyes widen. "The house where _Catherine_ was created!"

"She wouldn't go to the same house here," Faith says.

"No, but she might go someplace where the Scoobies would feel safe." Willow stretches her hand over the map table. A few images flash on the display, then it freezes on an overhead shot of the United Kingdom. It zooms in on the countryside at incredible speed, then it slows down until we're looking down on a grassy plain with a squarish-looking pit dug into the middle.

"It's a construction site," Dawn says.

"No," Willow says, "it's where Giles's castle _used_ to be."

"Tara's already here." Faith says. "Damn!" She glares at me.

"Now what's your problem with me?" I say.

"It might have been nice to have all your stunning insight _before_ Tara found a new hiding place!"

"I told you, it doesn't matter! Tara and her allies will come after us! The Scoobies will be along for the ride! Tara will probably use them for cannon fodder! If they make a move, any move, we'll have them! There are enough witches here now to devastate them!"

"You're sure of that, _Mistress_? Maybe you want to take a couple of corps off their posts in the home reality so that Tara's insurgents can really gain ground!"

I move to say something, but Willow gives one of my wrists a gentle squeeze. "If they're going to come to us we might as well make it easy. Faith, gather our ships over this plain and put witches on the ground all over this property. Dawn, you'll take charge of the ground forces. Anya…I want you to come with me."

Dawn and Faith say "Yes, Sorceress," as Willow leads me away from the table and to the portal disk. At the end of the transport we're back in my white bedroom on the ship. Willow doesn't let go of my wrist until we get there. She takes a few steps away from me, paces a little and rubs her eyes, then she turns back to me.

"Anya," she says, "I understand that you're trying to help, I really do, but I can't have you at odds with Faith."

"We're not at odds," I say, "believe me. I have no quarrel with her, but she doesn't trust me. I think she secretly wants to turn you against me."

She offers a little smile and comes close. "That could never happen, sweetheart," she says, then she gets serious, "but in a lot of ways I need Faith as much as I need you. Please…don't _force_ me to make a choice."

She doesn't _sound_ angry, but there's no mistaking the look in her eyes. I smile to relieve some of the tension. "Of course not, Sorceress. I would never do such a thing."

She smiles back and strokes my cheek. "Why don't you stay here for a little while? If Tara should come here I wouldn't want to risk anything happening to you."

I nod. "That's a good idea. You go on back. I'll be fine."

She smiles one more time and turns to leave for good. When she's gone I go over to the big picture window and look out. There's still nothing to see but clouds, of course, but I know that somewhere down there Dawn and a whole bunch of witches are getting ready to ambush Tara.

I smile at the very idea. _They're_ going to ambush _Tara_.

_Sure_ they are.


	7. Final Wars

**DISCLAIMER: **_Buffy-The Vampire Slayer and all related characters are the property of Mutant Enemy Productions, Inc., Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises and Twentieth Century-Fox Television. No copyright infringement is intended. This work of fiction is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. The story and all original characters are the sole property of the author and may not be used or archived without permission._

**RAISING ANYA,**

**FACING WILLOW**

**By Darrin Colbourne**

* * *

**Willow**

I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting when Tara led me to one of the castle's bedrooms, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't a meditation session, yet that's what we're doing…or, at least, that's what _I'm_ doing. Tara is leading me through the session. She says I need to prepare mentally for what she plans to use me for and she doesn't trust me to meditate on my own. Not in so many words, though. She doesn't really talk much at all, and for some reason she won't talk to me telepathically the way she does with Cordelia and Catherine. Maybe it's just because of who I am. Maybe she's worried she'll see in the deep recesses of my mind what she saw in Bad Willow's. I'm worried about that, too.

"Distraction," she sings out.

"Sorry," I say. She won't talk to me telepathically, but apparently she has no problem reading my thoughts. She's sitting cross-legged on the queen-sized bed and I'm matching the pose on the carpeted floor. We've been like this for what feels like hours, but I'm not exactly sure how much time has passed. The window in the room doesn't give any clues. All I can see outside is the rock of the mountain the castle is buried in. I'm still trying to figure out why we still have power and water. Tara must be doing it, but I don't see how…

"Focus!" She commands. It startles me because I hear it in my ears and my mind. The shock forces me back on track. I'm supposed to be using the meditation to heighten my natural senses without the use of witchcraft, specifically my eyesight and hearing. Tara intends to use me to bug Willow's ships, and the exercise will help me get used to the mystical alterations she'll put me through when that happens.

I shut my eyes tight and concentrate on my hearing. Tara says anything that I want to hear is there, no matter how far away the source of the sound is. I just have to open myself up to hearing it. I've been trying for a long time, but it doesn't seem like…

Wait…now I hear something, like the sound of conversation. I think it's coming from the library, but that can't be. That's on the floor below us and a few rooms away…

"Don't Analyze. Hear." Tara says. I stop analyzing and listen more closely. Now I can almost make out words. I think Kennedy is talking…no, she's arguing with Buffy and Giles, most likely about working with Tara and the others. I try to listen even harder, opening myself up to any stray sound, no matter how insignificant it may seem.

That's when I make out my first words. "Why are you looking at me like that?" It's Dawn.

"Oh, no reason." It sounds like Buffy, but she's still talking to Ken and Giles, and the innocent tone seems fake. It has to be Catherine.

"Well, stop," Dawn says. She sounds creeped out.

"I'm sorry," Catherine says. "I was just trying to imagine what you'd look like in a sundress. Do you ever wear sundresses?"

"Sometimes…" Dawn says.

"What kind? What does your favorite sundress look like? What do you look like in it?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I just think you'd look very pretty in a sundress. I'd love to see you in one. Do you have any here?"

There's a brief moment where all conversation stops, then Dawn suddenly says "Oh, gross!"

"Hey! That's our sister!" _That's_ Buffy.

"She's not _my_ sister," Catherine says, all pretense of innocence gone.

I wince and shake my head as images I _really _don't want there enter my mind. "Hear what you _want_," Tara says, "not what you _can_."

I nod, and with that cryptic bit of advice I try to refocus my hearing. For a split second I hear Kennedy start to yell at Catherine, but she's drowned out by the clear sound of a beating heart and steady breathing coming from my right. My eyes snap open and I look that way. Cordelia is sitting on the floor next to me, looking at me. She smiles when she sees she has my attention. "Hi," she says cheerfully.

"Um, hi," I say. I glance at Tara. She's just watching. She's not scolding me or anything, so I turn back to Cordy.

"Whatchya doin'?" She asks innocently.

"Meditating," I say. "You're kinda distracting me."

Cordy grins. "Oh, that's okay. It's my job."

"It's…your _job_ to distract me?"

"Well, it's my job to distract _Willow_. You're Willow, so I guess it's okay to practice on you."

"Yeah…I guess…" With that I close my eyes and try to get back to the level concentration I was at before. It's hard, because as my hearing starts to ramp up again the sounds that come in clearest are Cordy's breathing and heartbeat. It doesn't help when I try to concentrate on my other senses. Cordelia's scent - lilac soap, body oil and woman - fills my nose, and she's displacing the air in such a way that I can feel her softness even though she's sitting about a foot away from me. When it finally occurs to me that she intends to overwhelm my senses I give up. She smiles when I open my eyes and look at her. "You're just going to keep distracting me, aren't you?" I say.

She shrugs. "It's what I do. I'm Robin."

I give her confused look, then glance at Tara. Still nothing. I shake my head and turn back to Cordy. "Okay, I'll bite. Robin?" She nods. "As in 'Batman and…?'" She nods again. "How does that work?"

Cordy looks exasperated. "Don't tell me your Xander never bent your ear about his great Robin theory!"

"Maybe when we were kids, but I probably didn't pay attention."

"Really? I always listened. Geekiness was one of the things I found cute about my Xander. Anyway, he used to say that at first glance it doesn't make sense for Robin to exist. After all, Batman's supposed to be this deep, dark, broody guy, striking fear in the hearts of evil-doers…you know, kind of like Angel!"

I smile. "Right. With you so far."

"Okay, so here you have this Dark Knight waging a one-man war on crime, but in order to do it effectively he has to work at night and in secret so that the bad guys don't see him coming. That's why he's in the gray-and-black union suit, right? So if all that's true, why start working with some loud, uncontrollable kid in primary colors?"

"I have no idea."

"Well, in real life, the publishers of the Batman comic wanted a kid put in to give their younger readers someone they could identify with, but you have to come up with a reason for it in the context of the story, right? Xander figured it out!"

"The Great Robin Theory?"

She nods. "Robin was a distraction, camouflage. The magician's assistant that you keep ogling while the magician does his trick. Robin's job was to give the villain something bright and fluttery and active to focus on while Batman snuck out of the shadows to cold-cock him!"

I take a minute to let that sink in, then say, "So, you're the bright and fluttery thing that Tara's going to use to distract Willow?"

"Mm-hmm. I'm Robin."

I glance at Tara. "I suppose that makes Tara Batman." Cordy confirms that with a nod. "So, what, that makes my doppelganger The Joker?"

Cordy thinks about it. "More like Two-Face. Cool and focused one moment, ugly emotional the next. I'm here to bring out her emotional side."

"Uh-huh…okay, so what does that make Catherine?"

She grins and gets real close to whisper, "She's Ace from _Batman Beyond_, but she hates it when we call her that."

Cordy giggles at that, and Tara smiles a real smile, and I'm left wondering if Kennedy didn't have a point after all. Of course I don't say that. I simply smile at Cordy and say, "Well, this has been fun, but I really…"

She shifts gears on a dime. "Do you want to play a game?"

I shake my head. "A game? Cordy, we…"

"It won't take long! I promise! And it's easy! Please?"

I sigh. "Okay, what game?"

"Might Never Know."

"What is that?"

"It's a 'What if?' game."

"A 'What if?' game?"

"Yeah, you know. For instance, you and your Cordy were friends, right?" I nod. "But not at first, right? Like, she was real bitchy to you in school?" I nod again. "That makes sense. I can sense it whenever you're near me. It's like you're willing to see me as a friend, but those early experiences keep coming back and making you cautious. It was probably the same with her."

Then Cordy stretches and gets her face ever-so-close to mine. "But _what if_," she says softly, "instead of only being friends later in life, you and your Cordelia had always been as close as you and I are right now, and what if, instead of tormenting you for so long, your Cordelia had always thought so much of you that she'd have given herself to you, body and soul, if only you'd asked her to? What do you think your relationship would have been like then? Could you have loved her? Would her death have affected you more than it already has?"

I'm too stunned to answer. She's _so_ close to me, and it seems as if she wants…actually I have no idea what she wants, so I stall. "Do you play this game often?"

She shrugs. "I had to do _something_ to entertain myself while I was in that cage. All I could do was think, so I used to think 'What if…?' So…what about it? What if Cordelia had been a lifelong companion and not an adversary?"

I shrug. "I don't know. I guess I'll never know."

"No!" She whines. "Not _never_ know! _Might _never know!"

"What's the difference?"

"If you say you'll 'never know', it's like you're giving up, like nothing can change, but '_might_ never know' means there's hope, that anything's possible, which is true, because we're Sunnydale girls! Anything is possible for us!"

"So I _might_ never know…"

She grins and gets very conspiratorial. "But someday you _could_ know, and wouldn't it just be _delicious_ if, one fine day, you encountered a reality with a Cordelia Chase in it that absolutely worships the ground you walk on?"

She bites her lower lip and looks at me expectantly, and I really don't want to disappoint her, but I have to be honest. "I really don't know," I say, "but I _do_ know that, one fine day, a few years ago, we encountered a reality with a Willow Rosenberg in it that worships the ground Anya walks on…and look where that's got us."

Her face falls as she finally draws back a little, then she crosses her arms and pouts, "You witches are no good at this game at all."

That makes me look at Tara. She's not smiling anymore, but she doesn't look especially angry either. She's mainly just watching us. Just before I turn back I hear someone clear her throat. It's Kennedy. She's watching us as well, from the bedroom door. How long has she been standing there?

Cordy leans in again. "I don't think she likes me being so close to you," she says with a smile.

"Maybe you should let us get back to work," I say, "just so she doesn't get the wrong idea."

Cordy takes a second to glance at Tara, who gives her a slight nod. With that she stands up. "Okay. Like I said, I was just doing my job." She turns and starts out of the bedroom.

"She's mine," Kennedy growls as she goes past.

It stops Cordy in her tracks. She turns and leans real close to Kennedy, and with a grin she says, "Sweetie, if she's anything like our Willow, she was mine _first_." She turns to me. "She just never realized it." She offers me a playful wink, then leaves the room for good.

Kennedy balls her fists as she watches Cordelia go, then she turns to me, enraged. I get up immediately and go over to her, hoping to calm her down before she goes off, but Tara doesn't give me a chance. "Meditate Now," she says, "Girlfriend Drama Later."

We both just look at her for a second, then I turn to Kennedy. "Look, this will all be over soon. Just let me get back to this, okay?"

Kennedy takes a second to glare at Tara, then leaves, muttering, "Sure, Little Miss Hotpants gets to bimbo herself all over my girlfriend and she's 'just doing her job', but if _I_ wanna talk it's 'Meditate now'…"

I close the bedroom door as she gets to the end of the hall, then I go back to my spot on the floor. "I'm sorry," I say to Tara. "I'll try to concentrate better. Do you want me to try and listen to others again?"

"No Need," Tara says. "Practice Is Over. Time For Work."

"Time for work? You mean, we're going to…right now?"

"No Better Time."

I nod and close my eyes and prepare myself the best I can. I've only had a little experience with astral projection, and I've never had anyone doing the projecting for me. If Tara knows this - or cares - she doesn't say anything. She simply waits until I'm in a mild trance state, then enters my mind. _Go_, her voice says in there, _See and Hear_.

Then, just like that, I'm flying through the mountain, then through the air, riding the jetstream until I'm over England. All of Bad Willow's UFOs are there, riding low over the field where Giles's castle used to be. As I start to descend I notice that the ground is dark and crawling. After a moment I realize it's because there are hundreds of witches standing there, milling around and waiting for something. What they're waiting for I couldn't know, but at least they don't seem to notice me as I descend toward one ship in particular and fall inside. Everything is a blur after that, and it stays blurry until I come to an abrupt stop. I find myself standing near some kind of display table talking to Bad Faith. It's not until I walk away and start to pace that I realize it's not me at all. It's _her_. Tara has merged my soul with our enemy's. I'm seeing through Bad Willow's eyes and hearing with her ears, the perfect spy. So far she hasn't noticed, but that probably won't last long.

"Will, you know I'm just looking out for you," Bad Faith says. "I only want what's best for you."

"Anya _is_ what's best for me," Bad Willow says. "She's the best thing that's ever happened to me since…since…"

"Cordelia?" Bad Faith says. I can feel my twin bristle at that.

"That was different."

"Not by much, Boss, and I gotta tell you this is a really dangerous habit you've fallen into."

Bad Willow wheels on her. "_What_ 'habit'?"

"With everything you have, everything you can get with a snap of your fingers, it kills me to watch you risk throwing it all away whenever you think you've found true love! You're a _conqueror_, Willow. Conquerors can't be hopeless romantics."

"Oh, stop exaggerating!"

"'Exaggerating', hell! True Romance almost _killed_ you twice! Or, have we forgotten so soon what happened the last time Anya spent any length of time being affectionate to you?"

"You can't blame Anya for that. Her friends came for her and she lost perspective…"

"And you ended up with a poisoned knife in your shoulder, and that was _after_ Anya spent about a week pretending to be your true love! Come to think of it, that was about as long as your romance with Cordelia lasted too, and you're damn lucky that I was around at the end of _that_ love story because otherwise that same knife would have gone through your _heart_!"

I can feel Bad Willow's rage as she gets close to the display table and slams her fists down on it. "This was _your idea_," she hisses at Bad Faith. "You came up to me all soothing and cajoling and said 'Wouldn't it just be five-by-five if you could show that other Willow what a world full of witches could do to a world full of slayers?' Well, we're here, and we're doing it, so what the _fuck_ is your problem?"

"My problem is that there are better ways of doing it, but we're not using them because you're letting _Anya_ dictate your actions! You wasted a bunch of energy and time resurrecting her, and now you're letting her tell you how to conquer her world! And I would think that might set off a couple of alarm bells in a normal person's head, but your feelings for her have made you so blind…"

"That's enough! My feelings are _my_ business and I do not have the time or patience to deal with your petty jealousies, so I'm only going to say this once: _Lay off_ Anya! I don't want to hear anymore about her from you, and you better damned well get off _my _back about how I choose to use _my_ forces! Are we clear?"

Now Bad Faith looks enraged, but she's keeping herself in check, barely. "Five-by-five, Sorceress…" she says through clenched teeth.

Bad Willow just grunts and turns away from the table. She crosses her arms and lowers her head so she can rub her eyes, which sucks because now I can't see anything. I hope Tara's been paying attention up to now. Maybe, if the Sorceress and her Big Bad General are mad at each other, we can make Bad Faith turn on her boss. It's something, anyway.

It's about a minute before Bad Willow is calm enough to relax and open her eyes again. "I need to rest for a while," she says without turning. "If you need me, I'll be with Anya." It's as if she's daring Faith to say something, but she doesn't, and a second later Bad Willow walks away from the table.

That's when I say something, at least in my mind: _No!_ If she leaves to just be with Anya I can't really find out anything. Instinctively I try to stop myself, hoping it will stop her. I'm surprised as anything when it actually works and Bad Willow stops in her tracks…

…then I'm terrified as anything when I realize that trying to take over Bad Willow's body was probably the last thing I should have done.

She says a word in Latin and takes two steps forward, leaving my astral form stuck in the same spot. Then she turns around and smiles at me. "I don't believe her," she says. "This has got to be the oldest trick in the wiccan handbook, and Tara thought it would work on me."

I shrug. "It worked a little…" I say, stuck for anything more sensible.

Bad Willow nods. "I'll give you that. So what should I do now? I could destroy your astral form right now and your body would die in the same instant, or I could infect it with something nasty and send it back, so that you could infect all of your friends and you'd all die wherever you're hiding. Which one would you pick?"

I have to try. "Can I suggest option three: Live and let live?"

She shakes her head. "Not gonna happen, wanna-be, especially not the 'let live' part. I am _done_ with you, you and everything about you, and it's about time we settled accounts between us, so I know what I'm gonna do." She takes a step closer. "I'm going to bring your body here and take you with me to Anya's room, and I'm going to strangle you with my bare hands right in front of her just to make sure she understands that from now on there will only be _one_ Willow in her life…_me._" With that she puts an arm on my shoulder and my body rejoins my soul in a jarring instant, which leaves me whole and powerless in her grip. "And the funny part is you have no one but your precious Tara to blame for this," she says with an evil grin. "You wouldn't be in my grasp right now if she hadn't tried to use you as a spy…"

I can't think of a response for what seems like ages, then something makes me grin right back at her and say, "Not a spy."

There's a look of horror on Bad Willow's face as she recoils and takes a step back, then I'm hit with a wave of nausea that doubles me over and sends me to the floor, then there's the sensation of a million bugs crawling out of my skin. I look up when I recover in time to see Tara standing where I was, smiling and staring Bad Willow down.

"A Homing Device," she says, "And Trojan Horse."

"Oh, my god," I wheeze as I stare up at her, then I think, _You possessed me! You only made me astral project so you could take over my body, because you knew she'd bring it here! Why didn't you tell me that's what you were planning?_

Tara doesn't look away from her adversary as she answers me telepathically. _A secret plan is only a secret if you don't tell anybody about it. You were great, by the way. Nice job, 'partner.'_

"Say the word, Boss," Faith says, "and I'll have a thousand witches up here before you can blink."

"That would be a quick way to kill a lot of witches," someone else says. We all turn to her. It's Anya. She's suddenly appeared wherever we are and is walking toward her spouse.

"Besides, you don't need them," she says. "You're Willow Rosenberg, Sorceress, absolute master of the largest and most powerful Coven in Wiccan history, ruler of twenty-two different realities, goddess of all you survey. You've single-handedly killed Vampire Slayers and demons, bent demigods to your will, parted the veil and brought your lady love back from the beyond. And Tara McClay? She's nothing. Behind all that flash and attitude is the same small, stuttering little mouse that ran in terror when she got her first glimpse of your glory." Anya stops when she's close to Bad Willow and leans in. "You don't need underlings to beat her. You don't need anybody. Go on, honey. Kick every square inch of her ass for me."

Anya punctuates the peptalk with a kiss on her mate's cheek. It seems to do the trick. The look on Bad Willow's face transitions from horrified to thoughtful to resolved as she listens to Anya speak, and by the time Anya moves away Bad Willow is staring hard at Tara and looking _serious_.

Tara's stance hasn't changed at all the whole time. "Bring It," she says to her mortal enemy.

"Clear the bridge!" Faith calls out. Her voice has a hint of panic in it.

The other witches in the room, the ones at the control panels who had just been watching all this time, get out of their seats and run toward the spot where Anya first appeared, then start to disappear. I start to follow their lead out of instinct - and, frankly, common sense - but I don't get very far before Anya intercepts me. She holds me in her arms and pulls me aside. "Oh, no you don't," she says. "You need to stay and see this. You stand right here by me."

I don't have much choice, so I do what Anya wants. When I turn back to look at Tara and Bad Willow my twin is glaring at me. _Now_ I see jealousy in her eyes, and it's in her telepathic voice when she says, _First Tara, then you_.

Then she turns and hurls a massive bolt of raw mystical energy at Tara! Tara's return shot is only a split-second in coming! The two bolts of energy meet between them and converge into a ball of sheer power that glows so bright it sears my eyes and singes my skin! Both witches grit their teeth and strain as each tries to overcome the other's force! Something has to give, and a few seconds later what gives is the energy ball. It _explodes_, filling the air with crackling energy and throwing Faith, Anya and me down!

When I recover I look over at Tara and Bad Willow. They're both still standing, still staring each other down and breathing hard.

Bad Willow's eyes go black and she gets into a fighting stance, and her hair flies as little arcs of electricity surge all over her body. "Guess it's the _hard_ way, then," she says to her opponent.

Tara matches the stance as her own eyes start to glow bright white and that black flame engulfs her fists. "Works For Me," she says.

Then they lunge toward each other, and _reality_ shakes as Tara lands her first blow, then shakes again when Bad Willow lands hers! Then reality _keeps _shaking as Uber-Wicca Fight Club gets going in earnest! The boxing match Tara and Bad Willow are currently engaged in has all the elegance of a street fight! Each witch is trying to beat the other to death, using brute force clothed in Magicks of Mass Destruction! Every impact sounds like a thunderclap in my ears, every contact sparks flashes of white light that fill the room, and the blows come so fast and furious that two more have already landed for every one that registers in my senses!

Through all the chaos I almost miss it when Dawn fades into the room near Faith. I'm surprised to see her wearing a dark suit at first, but then I realize it must be Dawnie's evil twin. "What the _fuck's_ going on up here?" She screams at Faith.

"Judgment Day!" Faith screams back.

Dawn's eyes widen as she sees the battle going on. "We've got to help her!"

There's an angry look on her face when Faith yells back, "It's _her_ fight!"

The anger I see there is the same anger I saw when she was trying to warn Bad Willow about Anya. It gives me chills, but I don't know why. It's a _good_ thing if Faith doesn't want to help, isn't it? With that thought I turn back to the fight, and suddenly it hits me why I'm so worried. It looks like Bad Willow has gained the upper hand. Tara is defending herself more than attacking, and it makes me wonder what will happen if Anya is right and Bad Willow really doesn't need anyone's help to beat her? The worry is magnified a hundredfold when Tara misses once and leaves herself open to a right cross from Bad Willow. Tara goes down hard, and suddenly all is quiet as Bad Willow stands over her limp form. The Sorceress takes a few moments to catch her breath, then she raises her right hand into the air and makes a fist. A lightning bolt forms in her grasp and intensifies in strength as she brings it up and prepares to spear Tara with it. "It's _over_, McClay," she breathes.

Suddenly there's a blur of white and black and pink behind her, then the flash of polished steel, and Bad Willow screams as the blades of two daggers pierce her mystic defenses and slice through her back. The lightning bolt fades as she turns to face her new attacker. Her eyes get as big as dinner plates. "_Cordelia?!!_"

Cordelia is standing in a crouch with her now-blooded weapons at-the-ready. "Hi, sweetheart," she says with an evil grin. "Didja miss me?"

Bad Willow smiles right back. "As a matter of fact, I did. I _won't_ this time!" She fires another mystic blast, but Cordelia dodges it by somersaulting backwards, then there's more somersaulting and cartwheeling as Bad Willow keeps trying to hit her. The only time a blast gets close to her, Cordelia teleports away and reappears behind Bad Willow, gets in two more slashes and pops out again before Bad Willow can turn. When she pops back in she punches Bad Willow in the head with the hilt of one of her blades, then she pops out, then in, then repeats, over and over until it looks like Bad Willow is being assaulted by a ghost. The assault drives Bad Willow to her hands and knees, and Cordelia takes the opportunity to get Bad Willow in a choke hold. She puts the palm of her hand close to the center of Bad Willow's chest, and the Sorceress begins to scream as the area between hand and chest begins to blur.

Bad Willow keeps screaming as she conjures a bolt of raw energy that throws Cordelia off her back and across the room. "Robin" lands hard on a bank of control panels and goes limp. Bad Willow stands and turns to face her. She puts her hand on her chest. "You…won't…get my heart…that easily…" She says between gasps.

Then there's another white-black-and-pink blur, the flash of more steel and more screaming from my twin. She looks even more shocked when she turns to see this attacker.

"Don't worry, Cordy," Catherine calls out. "I'll get her heart for you the old-fashioned way!" Then she grins at Bad Willow and brings up her _katana_ blade.

Bad Willow just looks at her like she's deranged. "You gotta be fuckin' _kidding me_!" She says, before she fires yet another blast of mystic energy that swallows the dark slayer. Then she turns away before the residual energy dissipates, intent on finishing what she started with Cordy.

She stops in her tracks when she hears someone clear her throat. She turns around. Catherine is still standing there, ready to fight. "Protection spell," she says. "All-purpose. Not even _your_ magic can hurt me."

Bad Willow sighs and rolls her eyes. "Fine," she says, "the old-fashioned way it is."

Then she conjures a broadsword that's twice as wide and that looks _ten times_ as heavy as Catherine's weapon, and the Slayer's eyes go wide as Bad Willow raises it. Catherine looks around frantically. Tara and Cordelia are awake again, but dazed. The Slayer makes a decision. "Cordy! Upgrade, _now!_"

Cordelia wakes up just enough to see what's going on, then she disappears again, then blurs past Catherine. As she does she switches the katana for another broadsword just in time for Catherine to parry Bad Willow's blow! Sparks fly between the blades as the duelists hold their stance, each trying to force the other away with sheer strength! They might go on like that forever, but Cordelia returns and uses the chance to inflict more damage on Bad Willow's back with a sword of her own. Bad Willow wins the shove-of-war with Catherine, then swings her blade around to slash at Cordy. Cordelia parries, and a new shove-of-war ensues.

Even through the strain visible on her face, Cordy manages to smile. "Tell me," she says, "do your toadies know how you _really_ got your title, 'Sorceress'? Do you ever tell them about our last night together? Do you tell them about the things you did to me? The things you made me do to you? Or do you just _lie_ about it, like you do about everything else?"

"_You_ were the only liar in our room that night!" Bad Willow says.

Cordy isn't phased. "So, not even once, huh? Not even to keep the troops interested with a nice, pornographic little fairy tale? Not even to boost morale?" She gets serious then. "Did what we had mean so little to you that I don't even rate so much as an 'I _hit_ that' when you talk about me to your friends?!"

Bad Willow doesn't get a chance to answer, because Catherine charges at her with a scream and with her sword ready to impale. Bad Willow pushes away from Cordelia and blocks the thrust, then has to block Cordelia's swing, then a two-on-one swordfight breaks out. Bad Willow fights for her life as Cordy and Catherine go on pure offense, taking risks no sane duelist would take in an effort to overwhelm their enemy. Then, just as Bad Willow manages to push the others back a little, a blast of pure force slams into her and throws her between Anya and me. She keeps moving until she meets another bank of control panels back-first.

When I look to where she'd been standing I realize what happened. Tara is back on her feet.

Bad Willow wastes no time getting back on her feet as her nemesis approaches, though it's hard. She's starting to weaken, and she staggers for a second before she can get into her fighting stance, broadsword ready. Tara sees this and calmly glances at her companions, then she points at Bad Willow. Cordelia teleports again, then pops in at Bad Willow's side. The Sorceress barely has time to parry her next attack when Catherine rushes in, and the two-on-one duel starts anew, then becomes a three-on-one duel when Tara conjures her own sword and joins the fight.

I look on in awe, stunned at the battle of goddesses unfolding before me, and as I watch Bad Willow struggle against the others the battle is made more profound in my eyes as I recall Cordelia's game and apply it to what I see:

_What if there were things that I'd done in the past that were so cruel, so horrible, that the Powers That Be decided that the only fitting punishment would be my death, and what if they chose as my executioners my best friend from high school, a latter-day friend from the same place, and my best, truest love? Could I fight them as hard as I see my doppelganger fighting? Could I try so hard to end their lives just to save my own?_

It's not the same as when I tried to destroy the world. I fought Buffy and Giles then, but they never stopped loving me, and Xander faced me with nothing but love in his heart and prevailed. This is so different. Willow, Tara, Cordelia and Catherine, all different people from a different reality, but the one thing I see on all their faces is hatred, ugly hatred, Willow's hatred for her enemies and vice versa. There's no love there at all. Someone will be dead at the end of this battle, and the killer - or killers - will rejoice.

Thinking of that makes me look around, wondering if any of my fellow spectators will join in to help Bad Willow. Dawn is just watching, looking as awestruck as I feel. Faith watches with a deadly serious look on her face, as if she's got "next." Anya surprises me most of all. She's been watching everything with the most serene smile on her face. Her smile gets wider when she spots me looking at her. _You'll know everything you need to know soon enough_, her voice says in my head.

I turn back to the battle in time to see Bad Willow use her sword to channel a lightning blast that throws Cordelia back into the air. This time the former cheerleader does a flip and lands in a crouch off to Bad Willow's right. Catherine isn't so lucky as the Sorceress backhands her and sends her sailing into yet more control panels off to her left. That leaves Tara, who gets shoved away by one of Bad Willow's force bolts. Tara manages to keep from being lifted off her feet and her shoes scratch the floor as she stops herself, but as she charges back in Bad Willow transforms her sword in mid-swing. When the motion is done the barrel of an automatic pistol is pointing right at Tara's head. Bad Willow doesn't hesitate to fire twice.

"_NOOO!!"_ I scream as I watch Tara fall. I drop to my knees when her body hits the floor. "Oh, god, not again…" I whisper as I begin to cry.

My twin, by contrast, is ridiculously calm. She's just standing over the corpse, observing it. After a minute she looks at the smoking gun. "Huh," she says, "Metal Meets Propulsion works after all."

My muscles tense and my teeth clench and I fight the urge to attack her myself…then my jaw drops as someone materializes behind her and taps her on the shoulder. It's _Tara!_

"Ya still gotta be a good shot," she says when Bad Willow turns, then faster than _thought_ she lands a beautiful right hook that shakes reality again and sends Bad Willow spinning _and_ flying! She rockets over Dawn and Faith's heads and sails through the big circular window, shattering about a fourth of it as she penetrates!

I look where I thought Tara's corpse was just in time to see a blob of melting wax where a body was supposed to be, then I look up at Tara and _absolutely_ fall in love with her all over again! She doesn't notice me at all. She just looks to see if her girls are okay - Cordelia is standing and Catherine is on her back, but conscious - then walks toward the center of the room. Then she just stands there and…waits for something. I have no idea what. She just looks around, checks her nails and waits. What is she doing? What if the others decide to attack after all while their boss is gone?

My answer comes with the shattering of more window glass! Bad Willow flies back in, _still_ spinning! Tara manages to turn just as Willow speeds toward her, then she sidesteps and throws out her hand, clamping onto her target's neck with a loud thud! Then she throws Bad Willow to the deck with an impact that makes the universe quake again! This time the motion throws everybody but Tara off their feet!

When I recover this time, I see Bad Willow writhing on the ground, trying to gasp for air and moan in pain at the same time. The results are ghastly. She's coughing up blood, and more blood from her other wounds is splattered around her.

Tara shows no sympathy. She's pacing around Bad Willow, ready to do more damage. "How'bout _That?!_" She trash-talks. "_Chokeslam_ Meets Propulsion!" When Bad Willow doesn't answer right away, she gets angrier. "Get Up!" She yells. "_Get UP, Bitch!"_

Something inside me makes me beg her not to get up. I don't know what it is. Maybe, like with Vampire Me, I just can't bear to watch her die, lost and alone in a universe she never made. I catch her eye as she rolls over to push herself up. _Stay down_, I think. _Maybe she'll let you live if you just surrender_.

For a second she just looks at me, then she closes her eyes and laughs. The laughter gives way to coughs, and when she recovers I hear my own voice in my head. _Not gonna happen, wanna-be. It was always going to be one of us_.

Her eyes are black when she opens them again, and her body crackles with power as she stands up and turns to face Tara. Tara takes on her own god-like persona and Fight Club starts again, only this time Bad Willow only gets in a couple of good hits. After that, the thunder and reality-shaking are all Tara's handiwork. I cringe as she beats her adversary mercilessly, pummeling the Sorceress like nothing more than a human-shaped punching bag. Finally, just when it seems Bad Willow can't take anymore and I know I can't watch anymore, one of Tara's flaming fists goes _through_ Bad Willow's midsection!

There are long, agonizing seconds of silence after that, then Bad Willow vomits blood as she tries to scream, and she falls forward, trying to keep her balance by holding onto Tara. While they stand like this, Tara moves her mouth close to Bad Willow's ear and says, "We could have _shared_ the universe, if only you had _listened_ to me."

Tara pushes away and pulls out her fist, leaving Bad Willow standing awkwardly, holding her hands over a stomach wound crackling with black, arcane power. She starts to fall, but only gets a few inches to the floor before Cordelia pops in and stabs her in the back with two daggers.

"I could have _loved_ you," Cordelia says in her ear, "if only you had _forgiven _me!"

Then Cordelia backs away, leaving the blades in Bad Willow's back. Bad Willow falls to her knees, trying to hold on as long as she can. She turns to Anya and gives her bride a baleful look, but Anya just looks back at her with that serene smile. Dejected, Bad Willow turns away, and finds herself looking up at Catherine, the Vampire Slayer.

Catherine brings up her broadsword. "I haven't known you all that long," she says, "but I don't like you very much."

One good swing is all it takes to separate the Sorceress's head from her body. I'm horrified by how easy it is, especially when the head lands and rolls toward me. I fight back nausea as I look into Bad Willow's now-lifeless eyes and see the mask of surprise frozen on her face.

My gaze is drawn to the sound of the rest of her corpse hitting the floor. Tara, Cordelia and Catherine gather around it and admire it. Tara puts a hand on Catherine's shoulder. "Good Bad Dog," she says. It makes Cordy giggle and Catherine roll her eyes. I just want to go somewhere and cry.

But there's no time for that. There's more universe rumbling. This time it's caused by Bad Willow's corpse. Both the head and body are glowing with power and rattling. Tara and her minions back away from the body as it gets more intense. Then the body explodes, spewing a massive fountain of raw power that gathers in the air and hangs over us like a storm cloud! The fountain continues to erupt for several minutes as the cloud of power expands. When the spray is done, the cloud gets violent and angry, shooting little bolts of lightning at its surroundings.

Through the tumult I hear someone laughing. It's Dawn! She's looking up at the cloud and laughing maniacally as it pulses and jumps. Faith's attention is divided between Dawn and the cloud, but now she's smiling too.

Dawn eventually gets control of herself, but is still smiling as she walks to the center of the room. Then she looks back up at the cloud, spreads out her arms and closes her eyes. It's as if she's waiting for the cloud's lightning to strike her. A massive bolt does come down a second later…

…but it strikes _Anya!_ She screams in pain and her clothes burn away as the cloud expends its full fury into her! She looks like she's in agony, but the power is so intense that not even Tara can get near enough to help her! All we can do is watch as Anya falls to her hands and knees and takes the brunt of the mystical assault.

Finally, the cloud dissipates completely and the energy bolt fades. Anya just stays where she is for several seconds, then slowly, cautiously gets to her feet. When she's standing she looks around the room. I gasp when I see her face. Her eyes are glowing white hot, and the skin around her eyes is cracked, as if it were made of dried mud. Little sparks of mystic energy are escaping from the cracks, popping and sizzling and pretty much making it seem like Anya is cooking from the inside out.

"No," Dawn says. "That can't be. That's not supposed to happen." She looks like she's in shock. So does Faith.

"On the contrary," Anya says, her voice echoing with power, "this is exactly what's supposed to happen."

"No!" Dawn says. "That _can't_ be! _I'm _the Heiress! Willow's power is supposed to be mine when she dies! _Mine!_"

Anya regards her curiously for a moment, then laughs. Her laughter fills the room as if it were a concert hall. "Oh, Dawnie," she says when she recovers, "so powerful, and yet so naïve. Don't you understand? Willow and I were _married_, and you know how these Community Property things work. If the couple gets divorced without an active pre-nup, all the assets are divided equally. And, if one spouse dies without a _written_ will" - she grins evilly - "the other spouse gets _everything_."

"No," Dawn says with a trembling voice, "NoNoNo_NO!_" Her fists begin to crackle with white hot power and she starts to advance on Anya.

Anya doesn't even flinch. "And 'everything' includes everything she ever gave _you_." She raises her hand just the tiniest bit, and suddenly Dawn rises off the floor and begins to glow all over. She screams as another bolt of energy shoots from her to Anya. This time Anya takes it standing up, waiting patiently while the power comes to her, draining out of Dawn until there's nothing left. Then, with a word, Anya makes Dawn disintegrate. The child's cry of agony echoes long after she returns to the netherverse from which she was created.

With that task done, Anya turns to Faith. Faith, wisely, backs up. "You've been planning this all along," she says, "ever since she brought you back."

"Oh, don't act so _surprised_, Faith," Anya says as she advances. "You've been planning this since you joined up! Get Willow out of her native universe, away from her power base, make her use up a bunch of her strength, make her _vulnerable_, find a way to kill her. That _was_ your plan, right?" She shrugs. "It was my plan, too." She indicates Tara and the others. "It was _their_ plan, too. We all ended up here with the exact same plan, so let's not get all finger-pointy about who planned what! The _difference_ is, I made sure that when the plan succeeded, I would reap the greatest benefit from it." Her fists begin to glow. "Yay _Me_."

Faith looks terrified, but even so she manages to smile. "Right," she says, "yay, you. Go, Mistress…_Sorceress!_ Go, Sorceress! Actually, I'm really happy for you, Anya. Really! I know we got off to a bad start, but I'm looking forward to…"

Anya sighs and raises a hand. "Peddle it somewhere else…" she says, then she snaps her fingers and Faith disappears.

It takes a while for me to find my voice to ask Anya, "Where did you send her?"

She turns to me and says, "See and Hear."

Suddenly my astral form is whooshing through the air again. In seconds I find myself falling toward Mount Olympus. I end up in somebody that's sitting on the floor in a corner of the library. It only takes a second for me to realize it's Bad Faith. Buffy, Kennedy and Good Faith are all standing around her and looking down at her.

"You know, girls?" Buffy says. "It _feels_ like we have our Slayer strength back, but I'm not sure."

"Me either, B." Good Faith says. "Maybe we should try it out on something…just to be sure."

"But where are we going to find something to _punch_ and _kick_ over and over again really _hard_ to test ourselves?" Kennedy asks innocently. Then the three of them turn to Bad Faith and grin.

"Oh, _shit_…" Bad Faith mumbles as three strong arms reach out to grab her. It's the last I see and hear of her before my soul returns to my body. When I'm fully awake I find myself standing face-to-face with Anya. Tara, Cordy and Catherine are standing behind her.

"Are you ready?" Catherine says.

"For what?" I ask tentatively.

"Your sacrifice," Cordy says.

I sigh and nod my head. I have to sacrifice myself to make it stick, Cordy said earlier. I promised. I close my eyes and wait for a killing blow.

Instead, I find myself in Anya's arms as she gets me in _another_ liplock! My eyes open wide as we kiss. This time I _want_ to pull away, but her grip is too strong! I have no choice but to surrender to the embrace, and as soon as I do, _it_ happens… "it" being a tremendous rush of energy from Anya's body to mine through our lips! It hits me like a tidal wave, and I begin to drown…

…then I _expand_, grow to titanic proportions until the Earth is a beach ball by comparison, then until the sun is nothing but an ember, and as I expand I fly back through time, through the age of the universe, faster and faster until even thought travels at a snail's pace! I don't stop until I'm a cosmic being standing in dark, primordial chaos.

I hold out my right hand and look at the palm. At first there's nothing to see. Then there's the tiniest explosion, which leaves a bright spark. Then the spark begets more sparks, then those beget more sparks, until there's a spiral-shaped cloud of millions of sparks, and I _laugh_. I laugh at the absurdity of holding a _galaxy _in the palm of my hand!

Then, strangely, I hear Anya's voice. "Focus on me," she says. "Come back to _me_."

And, just like that, I'm back in that control room, sitting on my knees on the floor. Anya is right beside me, cradling me in her arms. The others are just standing around looking down at me. I shake my head to clear it, then turn to Anya. Her face is back to normal and she's smiling. "Admit it," she says, "I'm the best kisser in the _world_, aren't I?"

I nod. "Your kisses are certainly…memorable. What did you do? Did you give me my powers back?"

She shrugs. "Yes and No." Then she glances at the corpse of Bad Willow.

"Oh," I say, then it _really_ hits. "OH!"

She nods and helps me stand. "Yep. Come on. Believe me, the best thing to do after a rush like that is walk it off."

I feel a little dizzy when I'm on my feet, but that goes away quickly. Then I smile at Anya, then I can't help but glance at her naked form. "Willow," she scolds, "you're making me blush!"

I blush myself and look away. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean…"

"Relax." She says with a chuckle, and I turn back to her as she conjures a new outfit for herself. "There, that's better. Now you." She touches my shoulder, and in an instant my summer dress is on Bad Willow's corpse and I'm in her workout clothes.

"What are you…?" I begin. Anya stops me by putting a finger to my lips.

"Maybe it's best if the Mistress does the talking for a while, okay, _Sorceress_?"

All I can do is nod dumbly. Anya seems satisfied with that and turns away. Now she's waiting for something. A moment later one of those witches in the long skirts appears and walks over to us. "You called, Mistress?" She says.

"Our mission here is over," Anya says. "As you can see" - she indicates the Willow corpse on the floor - "it was a complete success." Then Anya turns away for a second and stretches out her hand. A huge inter-dimensional portal opens up in the sky just outside the window. She turns back to the servant witch. "Recall our forces from the ground and relay orders for all ships to return home. The Sorceress and I will keep this ship and return shortly, after we've taken care of a few things."

The girl's eyes widen just a little, then she gives me a sidelong glance. Again, all I can do is nod. It's enough for her. She turns back to Anya. "Yes, ma'am! I'll take care of that right away!" She then smiles prettily and disappears.

Anya sighs and turns to me. "You have questions, I know, and we'll answer them, but for now I'm famished, aren't you? Tara, be a dear and put Giles's castle back so we can go back there and have Tea."

Tara smiles. "Of Course, Mistress," she says before she fades from the room.

And now I'm totally _lost_. "What the _fuck_…?"

This time Cordelia stops me. "Not yet!" She says with a grin. "Wait for Tea. It will be a _great_ story!"


	8. All Hail The Sorceress

**DISCLAIMER: **_Buffy-The Vampire Slayer and all related characters are the property of Mutant Enemy Productions, Inc., Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises and Twentieth Century-Fox Television. No copyright infringement is intended. This work of fiction is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. The story and all original characters are the sole property of the author and may not be used or archived without permission._

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Just some review responses-

**Gina1982:** Thank you much, and there's one more chapter to go.

**MsTree: **Thank you, and High Tea begins now.

**Sun-chan1: **I thank you. (takes reverent bow)

**Jason:** Say what you want about the universe being crappy, but you got through seven chapters and you're probably reading this now, so I've done my job. :)

Okay...Finale time!

**RAISING ANYA,**

**FACING WILLOW**

**By Darrin Colbourne**

* * *

**Anya**

The first order of business upon our return to the castle is to get Tara, Cordelia and Catherine cleaned up. They're all covered in Bad Willow's blood - especially Tara - and the sight of them freaks out my friends. Tara takes care of herself and Catherine the wiccan way, but Cordelia begs our indulgence and goes off to take a nice, normal shower. I don't blame her at all. I sense that she wants to do more than clean up.

The other thing that freaks the Scoobies out is seeing me and Willow in our Willowcoven clothes. It takes a minute or two to convince them that Willow is _Our_ Willow and that I'm not here to kill anybody. After that they're all bursting with questions, so it takes a few minutes more to get them to relax and be patient so that I can explain everything properly. I get them all to retire to the parlor - I've always wanted to do that: "Retire to the parlor." - and make themselves comfortable, then I summon several novitiates to the castle and have them prepare High Tea and serve it. The others watch in amazement as the girls lay out scones, cakes and other pastries and provide a ridiculous variety of teas and coffees, serving each person his or her preference without needing to be told what those preferences are.

As the girls work I use my powers to get a surreptitious glimpse of Cordelia. Just as I thought, I find her curled up on the floor of the shower, letting the hot water cascade over her as she cries her eyes out. I quickly give her back her privacy, then use my control over time and space to subtly create a time warp around the bathroom she's in, giving her all the time she needs to get it out of her system and finish up. Only Tara understands exactly what's going on, and she lets me know with a nod that I'm doing the right thing. Willow, still not accustomed to her newfound awareness, senses something is going on but isn't sure what. I just give her a reassuring smile when she looks at me, and by the time she decides to ask me about it telepathically Cordy is drying off, so I just ask her to have patience. A minute later Cordy walks into the parlor wearing white towels around her body and hair. She's done her best to hide the sadness in her eyes, and even manages to smile to everyone before she heads right over to the couch where Willow is sitting and sits down gracefully on her right. Kennedy, sitting on Willow's left, bristles at this and starts to say something, but Cordy just smiles at her, holds up her palm and mimes a beating heart. "Thump-thump," she says, "thump-thump." Kennedy gets even madder, but gets the message and backs down.

I've kept the servant girls here until they could serve Cordy a cup of cappuccino. Once they've done that, they bow to Willow and Me in turn and then disappear. Then I look around the room, take a sip from my cup of Earl Grey, then smile. "Okay," I say, "Questions? Comments? Who goes first?"

Xander raises his hand. "Ooh! Me! Pick me!"

I chuckle at that. "Xander."

He lowers his hand. "I just have one, little question. What…" - he indicates me, Willow, Tara, the food and everything else - "…the _Hell??_"

Cordelia smiles at him. "Good, Xander," she says, "way to be vague."

"You want specific?" Kennedy says as she puts down her latte. "I'll give you specific." She turns to me. "If you were always on our side, why did you let Willow's evil twin keep us locked up and powerless?"

"Because, quite frankly, I _wasn't_ always on your side. At first I wanted to punish you just a little bit for not even attempting to dig me out of what was left of Sunnydale."

"But you were _dead_!" Andrew says, stating the obvious.

"It would have been nice to at least have had a decent burial!" I say. "Y'know…funeral, consecrated grave, wake…that whole bit?" They all just give me That Look then. I shake my head. "Anyway, that doesn't matter. What does matter is that genuinely wanting to hold you captive kept Willow from being suspicious about the other things I asked for."

"Like taking over the world?" Willow says. "You said before that that was some kind of plan?"

I nod. "You have to remember that practically everything about Willowcoven is powered by Willow in some way, and the things that give Willow _her_ power only exist within the boundaries of her empire. If she goes outside of those boundaries she has to rely on her internal reserves, and so does everyone and everything she brings with her. Those reserves are finite until she has absolute control of a reality and can use the mystical energy there to replenish them. She'd already used up a bunch of energy resurrecting me, so all we really had to do was force her to use more and more until she was weak enough to be beaten. Bringing a whole army here to do nothing was a good way to start."

"How could you have kept any of that a secret?" Robin says. "I thought Willow was a telepath."

I smile. "The nice thing about her being so starstruck over me is that she didn't try very hard to read my mind until it was too late."

"When did it become 'too late'?" Giles asks.

"When she gave me the first thing I asked for: Amy's power."

"Why?" Buffy asks. "What did that do?"

"Let me put it this way: for all the differences between our two universes the things that I always found interesting were all the things that were similar."

"Like how my twin and I both met our Taras the same way." Willow says.

"Or how my twin did the same time in stir as I did," Faith says.

"Right," I say, "and when I thought of that, another similarity came to me: in both universes Willow was the most powerful Wicca around, but there were other powerful witches practicing magic before she even thought of it. One of them was Tara. Another one was _Amy_, and her Amy had the same malevolent streak as the one we know, so it didn't come as a surprise when I found out that she was Willow's right hand, but I hadn't thought until after Bad Willow asked me what I wanted that Amy might know things that Willow _didn't_ know about magic, and I decided I wanted to know them too. Turns out, one thing Amy knew was how to keep Willow from reading her mind at all. When I got Amy's power, I knew how as well. After that, keeping my plans secret was child's play."

"Okay," Kennedy says, "so how come you didn't just let us go after you could keep secrets from her?"

"Because _that_ would have blown my cover, telepathy or not, so I engineered one of our Willow's trademark miracles."

"I have a question," Catherine says. "You said our Faith had the same plan we all did, Y'know, to get Willow away from her power and weaken her?" I nod. "Well, what good would it have done her? The Heiress was right. If you hadn't been there and done everything you did, when Willow died her precious Dawnie would have gotten all her power."

"She certainly would have," I say, "and that Dawn was probably easier for Faith to manipulate than Willow was, so her next step would have been to lead the new Sorceress off a figurative cliff and find a way to take the power then."

"How harsh…" our Dawn mutters before taking a sip of her mint tea.

I look around. "By the way, where is that Faith?"

My gaze falls on Buffy, who manages to stammer out, "Um…we…uh…you see…"

Faith tries to continue. "We got…a little…"

"Overzealous?" Kennedy says.

I sigh. "Okay, fine…did she at least get a decent burial?"

"She will," Giles mutters. "Earliest opportunity, I assure you."

"Couldn't have happened to a nicer girl." I say.

Xander raises his hand again. When I nod to him, he lowers it and says, "Okay, so all of this stuff where you were getting married and you had us locked up and you had your stalker bring shiploads of witches to our reality was all part of your nefarious - yet beautiful - scheme to bring down Big Bad Willow?" I nod. "And you're sure she's really dead?"

"Yes, very, very dead…and if you're wondering, I can't bring any of the slayers back that were killed during the invasion, but all the ones that simply lost their powers should have gotten them back when Buffy and the others did."

"That's great, and I was worried about that, but what I really want to know about is," - he looks at Willow, then points at her - "What _the Hell??_"

I smile at him, then turn to Cordelia. She puts her cappuccino down, looks at Xander and asks very seriously, "Did you ever see the movie _Dogma_?"

Xander gives her a confused look, then shoots me one. I just nod, so he turns back to Cordelia. "Yes, I did."

"So you know how the crux of the movie was the two fallen angels trying to get back into heaven, and if they succeed it shows how God can make a mistake, and if that happens the universe unravels 'cause it's built around God being perfect?" Xander nods and Cordy shrugs. "Well, that's kinda the spot our reality is in. It isn't just Willowcoven. Our universe is the universe Willow designed for herself. She didn't just take it over. She re-ordered it so that history unfolded in a way that would bring her rule about and the future would always be subject to her rule, whether she lived or died, then she did the exact same thing in twenty-one other realities. That's an entire suburb of the multiverse restructured and bent to her will. You couldn't do anything to her that wouldn't have an effect on it, which means that just killing her would have caused the same problem for us that Loki and Bartleby getting back to heaven would have caused in the movie. Reality goes bye-bye."

"And not in the quick, clean, 'poof' kind of way where nobody feels anything," Catherine says. "We're talking about chaos that would make opening the Hellmouth look like opening a Christmas present."

"Surely it wouldn't have been that terrible…" Giles says.

"Yep," Catherine says, "_that _terrible. Gwen tried to explain it to me a bunch of times, but it never really sunk in until I met Tara and she showed me exactly what was at stake in my mind. It's kind of hard to explain…"

"It's easy to explain," Cordy says. "Willow was a witch and a lesbian, so in the course of conquering our universe she rebooted it so that the practice of both Witchcraft and Lesbianism was the norm and boring old heterosexuality and other run-of-the-mill religions were the deviant practices."

"Is that even possible?" Xander says. "I mean, guys-with-girls has pretty much been the norm since the Birds and the Bees were invented. What could you do to change that?"

"You figure out what _makes_ the original situation the norm," Robin says, "then find a way to apply it to the new situation." He looks off into space for a second, then, "What makes heterosexuality the norm for us is that it's the only way we can reproduce without outside help…" He looks at Cordy. "…so she would have had to find a way to fix it so that women could have children with each other without the help of artificial means _or_ men. My God…" He looks off into space again. "She used her magic to turn men and women into two separate _species_."

"And guaranteed that her New Woman would be the dominant one," Giles says. "After all, if she doesn't grace the men with similar reproductive ability they eventually die out, and Nature would have made sure she started out with more women anyway. So men get boxed into the status of apes and Wiccan Lesbians become Masters of the World…and she becomes their Goddess."

Cordelia touches her nose and points at both of them. "And now that you can imagine that," she says, "picture _this_: One fine day Ms. And Mrs. Jane Q. Public are out on a nature walk. Little Suzy Public is skipping merrily along in front of them, bouncing her ball and walking their pet man on a leash, and it's just a really great day. Now imagine that the engine that keeps this little paradise going, and that keeps any of them from realizing that there might be something wrong with this picture - Willow's magic - just _stops_. What do you think will happen when the Publics and their pet man all come to their senses at the same time, yet remember what had been going on up to that point?" Robin and Giles just stare at her. "Exactly. Now imagine it happening all over the world…in _twenty-two different realities_."

"That's why we couldn't just kill Willow," Catherine says. "Her power has to continue until we can undo the damage gradually, in a way that won't start a multiverse-wide civil war between Men and Women, because in that scenario, eventually both sides will lose."

"But her power can't continue without someone to wield it," Cordy says. "That meant that if we were going to kill her, we had to find a replacement for her."

I've never seen someone do a spit-take in real life before. The one Willow does when she hears that is hilarious. She puts her French Vanilla Blend down carefully, then turns to Cordy. "You mean _Me??_"

"Well, of course," I say when I'm done giggling. "You saw what happened to me when I tried to wield it. It almost tore me apart from the inside out. The same thing would have happened to Evil Dawn, and it would have vaporized Bad Faith outright. I'm sure even Tara would have been hard-pressed to control it…"

"Not _That_ Hard-pressed." Tara says defensively.

"The bottom line is that through her own actions Bad Willow made herself so powerful, and in turn made her power so unique, that _only_ Willow could do what she could do, be what she was. So, the only way to get rid of Bad Willow permanently and repair the damage done across her empire was to replace her with a _Good_ Willow."

"And fortunately for all of us," Cordy says as she puts an arm around Will's shoulders, "there was a perfectly good Good Willow just sitting around doing nothing but making Slayers."

"But…but…" Willow says, "…I can't! I can't be her!"

"That's good!" Catherine says. "We don't want you to be her. We just need you to use her power."

"But I thought…" She looks at Cordy. "You said you wanted me to sacrifice myself!"

"Let me rephrase." Cordy says. "What we really need you to do is dedicate your life to helping us undo what your doppelganger has done. That requires a certain type of sacrifice on your part. Just not the icky kind."

"Why didn't you just say that in the first place?!"

"It's not a secret plan…" Tara says.

"…if you tell anybody about it." Willow finishes, then she turns to me. "Well, how did _you_ find out about their secret plan?"

"I didn't have to," I say. "I had the same plan. And - thanks again to Bad Willow - I was in a better position to implement it. Also, having seen first-hand what the empire was like, I had the same incentive for putting it into action."

Willow just looks at me, then at Cordy, then at me again. "But I _can't_ use her power!" She says. "It's fueled by the darkest of magic! I can feel it coursing through me right now. It will corrupt me, the way it always does!"

"No, it won't," I say. "You're a stronger, smarter person than you were, and now you know more about magic than you ever have. You can make sure you rule it instead of it ruling you."

"What if you're wrong? What if it does rule me?"

"Not to worry," Cordy says. "If that happens you'll have your four best girlfriends around to knock some sense into you."

Willow blinks. "Four?"

"Mm-hmm. Anya, Tara, Catherine and Me."

"Excuse me, Towel Girl," Kennedy says to Cordy, "but I believe you've miscounted."

Cordy thinks about it. "Nope. I think I covered everybody."

"I believe the _actual_ number is one, as in _me_, as in if you think you're going to push me aside…!"

"Oh, that's pretty much a given, honey."

Kennedy throws her latte down and stands to confront Cordy. "That's it! You and me, Bitch! Right now! And don't give me that 'I'll beam out your heart', shit, 'cause even if you do that I'll use my last breath to beat that smile off your face, and then I'll _haunt_ you!"

Cordy stands and stares her down. "Been haunted before, by an old hag that, like you , didn't know when to let go! Believe me…the day comes when I see your scrawny little ectoplasm near me, you'll be calling the Ghostbusters to get them to save you from me!"

I glance over at Tara. I would expect her to try and reign Cordy in, but it seems like she's waiting for her girl to kill Kennedy. Willow, meanwhile, is too flabbergasted by the whole scene to do anything. Guess it's up to me. I send Willow just the right mental image. It makes her look at me, then at Kennedy. That's when she gets up. "Ken?" She says. "We should talk."

"But Willow…!" Kennedy says.

"Please, baby," Willow says. "Let's just talk." With that she touches Kennedy's shoulder and they both disappear. Cordelia sits back down with an annoyed huff. I go back to my tea.

"Oh, my God," Dawn says, "she's really going to go with them, isn't she?"

I'm insulted. "Well, so am I!"

"Well, yeah, but…what I mean is…you're…"

I hold up a hand to stop her. "Never mind. Like I really expect to get a 'Sorry to see you go, Anya' from you people." I shake my head, then laugh. "Anyway…yes, Dawn, we're taking her with us."

"We need her," Catherine says. "There's an entire universe of people who need her."

There's a long silence then, which Cordy breaks with another huff. "Would you two stop scaring the poor girl?" She turns to Dawn. "She has our Willow's ability to cross dimensions now. It's not like she can't come back and visit."

Dawn looks confused for a second, then she looks at Catherine and me in turn. We both offer her playful smiles.

"Oh. Right…" she says.

* * *

We prepare to leave as soon as Willow and Kennedy return. Kennedy walks away from Willow as soon as they appear. I don't know what they talked about and I don't try to read either of their minds to find out. As long as Kennedy's willing to let Willow go, it's enough for me.

We use the castle courtyard to stage our exit. Just to get her in practice, I have Willow construct the portal that will take us to our new home. Tara is the first to walk through, stopping only long enough to glance at the others. I think they expected her to say a proper goodbye, but this isn't the Tara they knew. To her, we're all either strangers or enemies.

Cordelia - now wearing a middie blouse and full-length skirt she teleported in - _does_ say proper goodbyes, however, giving big hugs to Buffy and Giles, a little hug to Faith and a bear hug and sloppy kiss to Xander.

"I bet there's a great story behind that goodbye," He says.

"I'll come back and tell it to you sometime," she says with a grin, then she turns and goes through the portal.

Catherine looks around. It looks like she wants to say something, but most of us are strangers to her as much as we were to Tara. Finally she locks in on Dawn and waves her over. "Dawnie, come here!"

Dawn approaches cautiously. "What?"

"I won't bite! Just come here."

Dawn obeys and Catherine gets close enough to whisper something in her ear. After a few seconds Dawn pulls away and says, "Ewww, that's…!" Catherine pulls her back and keeps whispering. The more she whispers, the more Dawn's expression goes from disgusted to curious. Finally Catherine pulls away, smiling. "Really?" Dawn says to her.

"Just once," Catherine says, "and she'll be your _slave_."

"Slave, huh?" Dawn says, then both girls turn to look at Buffy.

"What?" Buffy says.

Dawn just grins, while Catherine turns and walks through the portal.

"What??" Buffy says. "What did she tell you?"

Dawn keeps smiling as she says, "You know when you have those days when you think you have the weight of the world on your shoulders and you just want to give it all up and run away?" Buffy nods. Dawn smiles wider. "Next time you have one of those days…ask me again."

And on that weird little note, it's time for Willow and me to say our goodbyes. We both hug and kiss everybody almost to death. Ironically, we both pay the most attention to Xander. This turns out to be my favorite goodbye. "Sorry to see you go, Anya," he says when we're hugging.

I lean my head on his chest and want to stay there forever. "I think you mean that," I say softly.

"Always have," he says, "always will."

Yeah, I like it right there, but I can't stay. I pull away from him and wave goodbye to everyone as Willow and I head for the portal. When we're there we just stand there side-by-side staring at it. "Ladies first," she says off-handedly.

I look at her. "That doesn't get you off the hook. We both count."

She sighs. "It was worth a shot. Together then?"

I take her hand. "Together."

We face forward and jump into the portal. I remember the last time I went through a portal like this there was a dreadful cold feeling. Now it's nothing, like a long jump from the sidewalk to the street, only instead of a street, we end up in Willowcoven's Staging Room. Once there, we find Tara, Cordelia and Catherine standing with their hands up in the midst of a hundred warrior witches.

"What's going on here?" I call out.

One of the witches steps forward, and Willow's grip on my hand tightens as she sees the face of Willowcoven's newest Chief of Internal Security, the face I showed her not so long ago back in our old reality.

"Forgive my impertinence, Mistress," Kennedy says with a smile, "but we detected these insurgents trying to infiltrate the mansion through the Staging Room."

"They weren't 'infiltrating'," I say. "They are here as our guests. They have seen the error of their ways and wish to join the Coven. The Sorceress and I welcomed them, and we sent them here ahead of us."

She turns to Willow. "Is this true, Sorceress?" She says.

Willow doesn't say anything, so I jump in. "How _dare_ you question what I say?"

"Again, Mistress, I beg forgiveness for my impertinence, but I _would_ like to hear Willow tell me this herself."

Willow squeezes my hand tighter, but this time manages to say softly, "The Mistress speaks for me, Ken…_nedy_, and as such you will obey her as you would me, do you understand?"

Kennedy takes a moment to look in Willow's eyes, then she backs away and bows. "Of course, Sorceress."

I let out a quiet breath and say, "You and your troops may return to your barracks."

She nods to me and says, "Yes, Mistress," then she and all the warriors disappear. Willow relaxes her grip when they're all gone.

A moment later an administrator appears in the room. "You summoned me, Mistress?"

I indicate Tara and the others. "Find places for them in the mansion and make them comfortable. They'll be working with us from now on."

This time the girl only gives Willow the slightest glance before obeying. "Yes, Mistress. Right away." She turns to Tara. "If you and your companions will follow me…" She turns and leads them to the portal disk, and a moment later they all disappear.

And finally Willow finds her voice. "I can't, Anya! I _can't!_ Not with Kennedy's doppelganger running the mansion's security! Couldn't we just…?"

"No," I say. "Our Kennedy could never fill this one's shoes. She would simply cause suspicion among her subordinates, and if Internal Security ever suspects us, we'll just end up fighting Willow's empire for the rest of our lives! No…so far we've fooled her. We'll save our Kennedy for the day that's no longer the case."

Willow looks like she wants to protest more, but she just bows her head. "If you think that's best."

I lift her head and look her in the eye. "I do, and you have to think that, too. You cannot have doubts. You're the Sorceress. I'm the Mistress. We rule together, until we find a way to dissolve the empire from within, right?"

She smiles. "Right." She closes the portal with a mental command. "We rule together."

I smile back, then we turn and head for the portal disk hand-in-hand…together, the way it should be. We're allies, friends, the way we might have been long ago if we hadn't been kept apart by my jealousies and her judgments.

I'll let you in on a little secret. Most of the time, when I was a Vengeance Demon, I only granted the wishes I wanted to grant. Sure, I had quotas, and D'Hoffryn always had a special case or two for me to handle, but generally, I never granted a wish that didn't satisfy me personally.

I keep that in mind as Willow and I get to the portal disk, as I lean my head on her shoulder and we step onto it, as we teleport off to our new destiny. I grant the wishes I want to grant.

Including my own.

**FINITO**


End file.
